Sacred Curve
by ianna28
Summary: SEQUEL to Graded Curve. It's Avengers wedding season, and everyone is hoping for just a moment of quiet to do some planning. But quiet and the Avengers don't go together, specially for Loki and Tony. Tony worries about a threat from on Earth, as well as from the other Nine Realms, and he has a lot more to lose this time around. Tony/Loki slash, MPREG, language, Mythology AU
1. Chapter 1

**A****/N: They're back! I've got a story of fluff and drama alike. I hope you join me through the journey and enjoy it!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony's thumb spun the gold band around his ring finger, nail dipping in the green inlay every so often, as he chewed on the end of his pen. He needed a plan of attack. That plan should not include him sitting in his workshop, avoiding the topic. Maybe he should have asked Thor before he had gone back to Asgard, he should know, considering he was going through the same thing.

Tony needed to broach the subject of the actual wedding with Loki, and he was not afraid to admit to himself that he was scared. They both had rings, Tony had gotten the official blessing from Odin, and the tearful one from Frigga. Five years on and Tony was afraid they were going to be that couple that everyone talked about, the ones that made a career out of being engaged. People like his darling daughter. His oldest.

Tony took a breath and let his feet drop to the ground as he got up. Maybe if he told Loki that Thor and Sif were planning their own wedding it would help. Or bite him in the ass and they'd wait another three years.

He was about to pass through the living room he stopped and backed up. He saw a pair of socked feet hanging over the arm of the couch and walked in silently. Loki was on the couch, on hand behind his head, the other holding onto something bright green on his chest. Tony quickly pulled out his phone and held it up, getting a few pictures. He slowly started to circle around and got a picture of Loki with a four year old girl on his chest, legs scrunched so that her bum was in the air, body covered with a bright green blanket, Loki's hand on her back.

"Take one more picture and you shall be needing a new phone," Loki whispered when Tony had started to lean in. Tony just grinned and put the phone back in his pocket. "What time is it?"

"Almost 3, sleeping beauty." Tony sat down on the edge of the coffee table, just watching them.

"She has been asleep for almost 2 hours, would you like to wake her?" Loki's green eyes opened to watch Tony.

"And ruin this precious moment between you and Emma? No, no, you're always were he favorite place to sleep." Tony grinned and Loki rolled his eyes. "I'm sure she had a big day today at the park with Dad anyway, she's probably pretty tired."

"This is true, but you can move her to her bed if you wanted to talk." Tony raised an eyebrow. "It was obvious that you were looking for me. She should be moved anyway so she'll be more comfortable."

"Her or you?" Tony snickered and he leaned over picking her up gently. Her black hair flopped over her shoulder and into Tony's face as he rested her head on his shoulder. Emma Rose Stark had been born looking just like a little female Loki clone. Loki claimed that it was his turn since Kaia looked so much like Tony. Emma loved green, her stuffed snake, and her taller Dad to use as a cushion.

Tony walked down the hall to Emma's room, hopping a little to move the blanket back with his foot without waking up the toddler. She had used Kaia's old crib when she was younger, but slept in her own, custom framed, bed now. Loki had gotten some of the craftsmen up in Asgard to make it special for her, much to Tony and Emma's delight. Emma also loved Asgard.

Putting Emma down Tony went to get up but stopped when he felt resistance. Emma was holding onto his shirt in her sleep with one hand the other around her snake.

"You're going to be as strong as your Dad too, aren't you?" He sighed a little and gently started to pry her little fingers from his shirt. "Night Flower," he kissed her forehead and left the room as silently as he entered, headed back to the living room. He saw that Loki had managed to push himself up, stretching his arms out, on the couch and he ran and jumped on the couch. He wrapped his arms around Loki's waist, putting his head in his lap and grinned up at him, showing off his teeth, as Loki glared down at him.

"Hello, love of my immortal life." Loki snorted a little, and 'accidentally' jabbed Tony's side with his knee. "I think that maybe, perhaps, just a thought, it might be time to start planning that little thing of ours called a wedding. Since I'm sure we have to have a ceremony on Asgard as well as down here, it isn't something that we should really wait on, and-" Tony stopped talking when Loki placed a finger on his lips.

"Yes, I thought so as well." Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise a little. "I have a time frame as well. I was thinking perhaps eight months from now." It was early June and Emma had just finished her first year of school.

"Hey, that's great! I didn't picture you as a summer wedding sort of person anyway." Tony smiled, finger drawing math equations on his stomach. "Why so specific though?"

"Well, our new addition will already be with us by then, and I won't have to worry about my clothes being the right size." Tony's finger stopped and he blinked. "Oh, I think I forgot to mention that I'm with child again." Loki grinned. 

* * *

Gabby ruffled her hair and sighed, dropping her cheek on her book. She let out a soft moan and smiled whens he felt strong hands start to rub her back. "Oh, that feels so good, please don't stop."

"This is supposed to be muscle here, not rock," Steve raised an eyebrow. "I think perhaps you are too stressed." Gabby snorted.

"Understatement, Rogers. Getting a Masters degree is hard," she closed his eyes when Steve worked out one of the knots in her back. "Although you have been a big help the past year, and I love you even more for it." Steve chuckled a little.

"How about you take the rest of the night off?" Steve kissed the back of her neck. "You're stressed and you literally just dropped your head on your desk, I think you need a break, a nice evening."

"Oh, but if we go out then I'll have to actually fix my hair, and get dressed, oh and then makeup, and-" She blinked when Steve put a finger on her lips.

"I made dinner, sweetheart. All you have to do is pull yourself from this office and out to the kitchen." Steve took her hands, pulling the books away and closing them, the pencil in between to keep her place. The two had finally decided to move in together after Gabby had gotten a job as a TA on campus. Steve had suggested it after she told him the news and it didn't take a long to find a two bedroom apartment with an office. They had been living there for over a year but it hadn't taken them long to turn the second bedroom into a bigger office for Gabby while Steve had the other room.

Gabby wrinkled her nose a little then lifted her head back up. "Oh alright, how can I say no to those baby blues? They get me every time." She laughed when Steve took her other hand and practically lifted her out of the chair. "You're too good to me sometimes."

Gabby padded out in socked feet, yoga pants and tank top, to see the tale set with a nice dinner set with candles, and even a blue tablecloth. "You really have outdone yourself, Mr Rogers. What's the special occasion?"

Steve spun her a little with one hand and kissed her lightly. "I admit to having an ulterior motive to tonight, but I hope that it's something that you'll enjoy as well." Gabby tilted her head to the side and watched a flash of nervousness go through Steve. "We've been together for a while now, almost 7 years." Gabby hummed in agreement. "I can say for certainty that I have never felt this way about anyone else before." Steve reached into his pocket and started to go down on one knee Gabby's eyes widened a little. "I love you, and would be deeply honored and happy if you would marry me."

"Holy shit." Gabby slapped a hand over her mouth then let out a laugh under her palm. "I mean, yes of course I will, yes!" She smiled and squealed a little when Steve stood up and slipped a ring on her finger. "Oh my god, I forgot to even look at the ring! You said I didn't need to look nice!" Steve laughed and kissed her. She brought her hand up and bit her bottom lip. On her left hand was a silver band with a small round diamond, two sculpted leaves on either side dotted with tiny diamonds, with a sapphire next to the leaves. "Steve, this is gorgeous! And you remembered my favorite color!" She jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck, grinning when he caught her.

"I don't want you to worry about this on top of getting your degree," Steve told her and he rubbed her sides. "You graduate in August, so I thought that we could have a late winter wedding, giving plenty of time to do the planning without worrying about your thesis."

Gabby moaned and dropped her head on his shoulder. "I have the best fiance ever. Oh my god!" Her head popped up and she grinned. "I get to say fiance!" Steve grinned and kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A****/N: I babysit a 20 month old, so I make all my guesses about how a toddler would act with how fast he learns, and he's a smart little kid. Kids are amazing sometimes.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony looked at the choices that Emma had put on the bed, resting his chin on his hand. "And you've decided to wear the purple plaid pants, right?" The little girl nodded, hands gripping the green bucket hat on her head. "Right, well I don't suggest the orange shirt then. What about the white one?"

"Will it go with my hat?" She looked up at Tony, eyes hidden under the hat.

"I don't think Dad's going to let you wear it once we get out of the car," Tony admitted. He saw her lips purse together and he tried to keep from laughing. Tony grabbed the mid sleeve length white shirt with butterflies on it and slipped it over her head, hat and all. "Okay, now we need some shoes."

"The orange ones!" She grinned and pointed to her closet. Tony snorted and walked over to the closet, opening the door and seeing all her shoes.

"You really want to wear orange today, don't you? Let's try something else, this is a big day for your cousin." Tony pulled out a pair of white shoes and a pair of black shoes. "Maybe these?" Emma pursed her lips again then hopped over and stood in front of the row of shoes. She reached out and grabbed her golden chucks and held them up. Tony glanced at his own pair of brown chucks. "Oh sure, why not."

"We will be bringing a brush, and you will be fixing her hair in the car." They both looked up to see Loki standing in the doorway, rounded stomach visible for the moment.

"Dad!" Emma giggled and ran over, jumping up and Loki caught her, holding her in one arm to the side. "I can't wear my hat?"

"No, I'm afraid not today, darling." He pulled the hat down over her nose and she giggled. "Now are you two almost ready? We're going to meet Aunt Pepper downstairs."

"Can't Aunt Pepper do her hair?" Tony asked, grabbing her brush and play tote. "Or better yet, can't Kaia? They're both girls." Loki rolled his eyes and turned, walking away with Emma still in his arms.

"Come on Daddy! We can't be late!"

"She's learning too much from you," Tony called out to Loki as he followed them.

"No such thing." He could practically hear the grin in his partners voice. 

* * *

It was Pepper that found Gabby first in the crowd of people. It was also Pepper who saw the ring first. "You're engaged?!" She put her hands over her mouth, but Gabby could see the smile in her eyes. "When?!"

"Last month, but we thought it'd be fun to tell everyone at the party," Gabby grinned, chuckling as Pepper grabbed her hand to inspect the ring. "Saves me the trouble of having to call everyone separately, and now that I'm done with school, I can focus on it."

"I can think of two or three men that are going to give you and Steve hell for waiting," Pepper smirked as she let go of her hand.

"Oh, I know." She rolled her eyes a little then smiled when Steve found them and kissed her. "You know that the sunglasses do nothing to hide your identity, right?"

"Don't worry, Tony's here to take most of the attention." He smiled at her.

"Well, that's not going to help you any when they all find out the good news." Pepper smirked when Steve blinked a little

"She has a heat seeking ring radar," Gabby told him.

"It's a good thing that you did finish school, or else it would be so much harder for you to finish."

"What would be harder?" Tony walked over, a little girl attached to his leg as he walked.

"Your life when Uncle Loki has another baby." Gabby grinned at Tony's deadpan expression.

"Oh ha ha, so very funny." He shook his leg a little and Emma squealed with laughter. "Just remember that I have more degrees than you."

"Academic requirements weren't quite as strict when you got your degrees." Balder grinned as he walked over and wrapped Gabby in a big hug. "Obviously she's smarter than you."

"Saaaaave meeeee," Gabby leaned back to Steve. He wrinkled his nose a little and her jaw dropped a little. "No, this is your job now, to save me!" Steve reached out and took her hand, helping her slip away from the small group.

"How are we going to tell everyone?" She entwined her fingers with his, and Steve smiled at the feel of the ring against her hand. "I mean, I'm we could just like get up on a table and tell everyone, but even that doesn't sound all that appealing to me.

"Tell everyone what?" Gabby squeaked and Steve jumped when Loki's voice sounded behind them.

"How frighteningly silent you can be," Steve quipped and Loki smiled. Loki let out a low whistle and Nathan suddenly stepped out from behind Loki. "Also, how frightening that kind of was."

"Nathan, this lovely couple needs to make an announcement to the rest of the room," Loki talked to the man, but both of them kept staring at Steve and Gabby. "Would you be so kind as to get everyone's attention and make it for them?"

"It would be my distinct pleasure." Nathan grinned toothily at Gabby. "What exactly should I tell them, my dearest younger Gabriella?"

"That I'm smarter than you, and you're Not older than me." Gabby's eye twitched a little.

"I do believe that they want to tell everyone of their upcoming nuptials," Loki cut off the incoming argument. "There's a highly decorated ring on your finger, and I saw Pepper fawning over it a minute ago."

"You're Finally marrying Cap? About time," Nathan exclaimed. He jumped up on a chair, standing tall enough so that everyone could see him. "Hello! Can I get everyone's attention please?" Gabby groaned and shoved her face into Steve's shirt, trying to pull his jacket closed over her head.

"If I pull them tight enough, will it wrap around me like a cocoon and hide me?" Steve pat her back a couple of time and shook his head.

"No, you'll just stretch out my jacket, that's all."

"Not a lot of you know me, but I'm a Very close friend of our dear Gabriella." Nathan continued once everyone had turned to face him. Loki swore he heard Kaia groaning in the crowd. "Which, round of applause for her degree." Everyone started to clap and Nathan nodded, smiling. "Now, our smart girl would like to make another announcement, and I'm very honored to have been asked to give it Everyone, get ready to line up and give more congrats, for her and longtime boyfriend, Steve Rogers," now Steve groaned a little, "are engaged!" The room full of family and friends started to clap, some 'awwws' were also heard and Loki grinned when he saw Gabby's ears turn red, the same shade as Steve's face.

Nathan hopped off the chair. "I think my job here is done. Have fun you happy couple you." He grinned and walked off."

"He seemed all too happy to do that," Steve looked at Loki who shrugged, a knowing smirk on his lips.

"He may or may not just asked me yesterday if he could marry Kaia." Gabby whipped around to face her Uncle. "And I may have said that I would talk to Tony so he didn't freak out. For a price of course."

"Oh, of course." Steve snorted a little. 

* * *

Loki found Balder later when Tony disappeared with Emma to do some exploring around the Tower. "How long ago did he ask for Gabby's hand?" Loki asked as he sat down next to his brother, casually snacking on a roll.

"Five years ago," he snorted and smirked. "Said he wanted to wait until she was done with school though." Balder looked at his youngest sibling. "How did you know he asked me?"

"Steve Rogers is an old spirit, and I've come to find, the embodiment of the perfect Midgardian, gentleman." Loki shrugged a little. "Otherwise known as the opposite of Tony and myself."

"Thank Valhalla for that." Balder grinned.

"Have you told them that they'll have to go to Asgard for a celebration?" Balder kept grinning and Loki rolled his eyes. "You know, Balder, I am supposed to be the devious one, please stop trying to take my title."

"I suppose I should tell them. With Gabby technically being of the Royal line of Asgard, Rogers will most likely have to go through the Trials." Balder shrugged a little. "I assume that Nathan knows about that?"

"He was there when Tony asked, so I believe that he has an inkling." Loki nodded glancing over to where some people were still dancing. Nathan was attempting a very poor swing dance with Kaia, who couldn't stop laughing. At 27 the man worked in Engineering at Stark Enterprises, currently working on a solo project with Tony's supervision. Kaia looked like a younger Tony Stark with Loki's green eyes, and at 24 was trying to work her way into the publishing world.

"Ah, the joys of being part of the royal family."

"At least we aren't the oldest." Balder nodded quickly, agreeing with him. "I'm quite content with staying down here and just worrying about Tony not blowing us all up." Loki looked over as Tony walked in the room with Emma on his shoulders, both with dirt on their faces, and hair a mess Balder started to laugh as Loki sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A****/N: **  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki raised an eyebrow when Emma came running out to the kitchen. "Who dressed you this morning?" She stopped and looked down at her clothes She had on gold shiny leggings with a white sweater dress with green and brown polka dots on it, and little black leather boots. Her black hair was up in pigtails with fuzzy green hair ties.

"I did." She grinned looking back up at him. "Daddy said I could wear whatever I wanted on the first day of school." She started to hop with both of her feet together over to Loki and stopped before putting a hand on his stomach. "One day I'll help dress him."

Loki smiled and raised an eyebrow. "You think it's going to be a boy?" He and Tony knew the sex of the baby, but hadn't told anyone yet.

"I know it is, silly." Emma giggled then went over and started to pull herself up into her chair to eat her breakfast. "I also know that he's gong to be here soon.

"Yes, not soon enough though," Loki mumbled as he sat back down on the stool. Tony came out a second later and grabbed a glass of orange juice. "When this child is born, I shall be supervising the clothing of the children."

"I don't think she looks bad." Tony grinned.

"You don't put black shoes with brown clothes, it just looks tacky." Tony snorted and rolled his eyes. Before Loki could go on something suddenly slammed into Tony, pushing him up against the counter.

"DaddyDaddyDaddy!" Tony coughed, trying to get air back in his body as the thing attached to him started to talk fast and squeal. He held up the unspilled glass of juice before setting it down on the counter. Tony blinked and looked at Kaia. "Look!" She held up her hand.

"Did he ask?" Loki smiled a little as Emma was leaning up, trying to see what was happening with her older sister.

Tony grabbed her hand to inspect what exactly it was that she was showing him. On her left hand was a silver ring, set with a ruby, wrapped around delicate silver knitting with a gold band underneath. "You're engaged?"

"Did I forget to mention that Nathan asked our permission to marry her?" Loki calmly asked as he gestured for his oldest to come over and show him the ring. He hummed a little in approval. "A very fine selection, yes, I approve of his choice." He took both of her hands and kissed her cheek. "I can see that it makes you positively glow with excitement." He snorted when she just squealed.

"My little girl is getting married?" Tony blinked a little and Kaia sauntered back over to take his hands, swinging them back and forth.

"Yes, Daddy, I am, to Nathan." She was turning on her best charm. "Now aren't you glad that it's him and not someone else that you don't know about?"

"Considering that you two have your own floor and are living together?" He nodded then let out a little sigh, tinged with a smile, and pulled her into a hug. "You're growing up and having life events too fast. Stop that." Kaia grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But you can't get married in February."

"I know, because that's when Gabby and Steve are getting married."

Both Tony and Loki stopped and looked at her. "No,... that's when We're getting married," Tony corrected. Kaia slowly sucked her lips in. "I have waited five years for this, they are not stealing my thunder."

"You know, I kind of left Nathan all alone making breakfast, I have to go. Love you both, have fun at school Emma, bye!" Kaia quickly ran out of the room

"I think that we should pay them a visit," Loki said calmly. 

* * *

Gabby wrinkled her nose as she woke up to a constant knocking. She started to roll over, feeling Steve's arm on her back and smiled a little. "Shhh," she blinked when Steve whispered to her. "Pretend to be asleep."

"Why?" She whispered back, thinking that she didn't really need to pretend.

"Because it's Tony and Loki." Oh. That was a good enough reason. She jumped a little when the knocking from the front door was suddenly at the bedroom door. Oh, right, magical Uncle Loki.

"We know you're both in there," Tony's voice sounded first. "We need to have a talk."

"Didn't we move in together to get away from everyone?" Gabby mumbled into Steve's arm.

"It apparently doesn't stop them from coming here." He sighed and got up, grabbing his sweat pants before going over to open the door. Gabby pulled the blankets over her head.

"What is this about a February wedding?" Tony asked right away. Loki was just standing behind him, letting the two Avengers discuss the situation.

"That's when we've decided to have the wedding," Steve leaned against the door. "I was pretty sure we didn't need to check in with everyone to decide on a day."

"Well you do when it's going to coincide with ours," Tony threw back. Gabby lifted her head. "What day is it?"

"The 6th," Steve replied.

"You have to change that."

"Like hell we do."

"That's the day we picked!"

Gabby rubbed her face then pushed herself out of bed and stood next to Steve. her and Loki locked eyes and their silent battle started. She didn't have a great track record with winning these, starting when she was six and Loki got her to talk in front of everyone. But this was her wedding, she wasn't gong to go down easily.

Tony and Steve were no stranger to the weird battles that Gabby and Loki had, it was just something that happened, but they also knew not to talk to them while it happened. Loki suddenly lifted one corner of his lips and Gabby pursed hers.

"We'll take the 8th." Steve looked at Gabby, eyebrows lifted. "If anything is gong to disrupt a high profile wedding, it should be theirs and not ours, so we'll let them go first." Tony was failing at trying to tone down the smugness in his look.

"We could have resorted to arm wrestling, I could have taken Tony," Steve mumbled.

"Also, if we do that, we can get an extended honeymoon, while they have to wait two days to start theirs," Gabby told him, taking his hands. Tony blinked a little.

"Hmmm, I can approve of this change now," Steve nodded when he noticed Tony's change. "you were right Tony, we should have checked." He smirked as Tony sent him a glare.

Tony pointed at Steve. "Bruce is my best man, now. You're bumped down to number two!"

"Perhaps you and Nathan can both go to Asgard together then," Loki spoke up, catching the other three off guard. "He's proposed to Kaia. I think that both him and Steve could go for the Trials together."

Tony started to laugh. "Trials? What Trials?" Steve looked at Gabby who only shrugged.

"Did Balder fail to tell you, again?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "Mortals must go through the Trials of Courage to be considered worthy enough to marry someone of the Asgardian Royal line."

Gabby started to rub the spot between her eyes. "Yes, my father failed to mention this to either of us. He probably did it on purpose."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Loki agreed, smirking.


	4. Chapter 4

**A****/N: I have seen way too many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress", and I'm not ashamed to say it. I also admit that towards the end, I may have fallen in love with the moment a little too much. And Happy Birthday to GreenLoki, I hope this chapter is a good present!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"You're beautiful, you're wonderful, you're amazing, and you're Captain America," Gabby had her hands on Steve's cheeks. "You're not going to mess this up. Nathan might, but you won't." They both ignored the indigent 'Hey' from behind them. "You'll get this over with and before you now you'll be back here dealing with more Avengers stuff and doing food tastings with me."

"I just don't like leaving you alone here to be hounded by the press," Steve took her hand, running his thumb over her ring.

"I can deal with them. My Aunt is Pepper Potts, who works for my Uncle, Tony Stark. I know the press," she smiled at him. "You just worry about you, and then gathering together your groomsmen. Aunt Pepper is helping me with all the other planning, and when you get back you can see all the work I've done."

"I don't need a babysitter," Tony looked at Loki.

"I'm glad that you recognized that I asked Banner to stay here because of you, and not Emma." Loki pat his cheek. "I know that I'll only be gone for a week, maybe two, but I feel so much at ease if there is a responsible adult watching you."

"I resent that," Tony pouted.

"I know you do." He gave Tony a light kiss. "But just think, when you and Emma come up there, there will be a new baby, and I won't be carrying a bowl ball in my stomach anymore Everyone will be much happier. Trust me."

"Hmmm, you're mood swings Were getting scary." Tony loved to court with danger. "Well, be sure to keep an eye on Nathan, we can't have him dying on us. I think Kaia would be upset, too." Loki snorted and shook his head. The two walked over to Balder who was waiting with Steve and Nathan, and Gabby and Kaia. "So, any idea what these two are going to have face?"

"Not really," Balder shook his head. "Odin and Thor are out on some peace talks, so we'll see if they left instructions with the council, or if we'll have to wait for them to come back."

"Don't worry if either of you fails you can just ask your fiances to renounce their titles as Princess and stick with a mortal wedding." Loki didn't try to hide the evil smile as he looked at the two men. "Nothing big." Kaia groaned. "Well, I'm ready. I long to get off of my feet."

"I'm so very glad I'm not a shape shifter," Balder commented before he grabbed Steve and Nathan's arms and all four disappeared to the roof bi-frost site.

Gabby clapped her hands together once and went to grab her coat. "I'm off, I'm meeting Aunt pepper to go dress shopping."

"Can I come?" Kaia's eyes had lit up and Gabby laughed and nodded.

"Want to come Uncle Tony? You could look for a flower girl dress for Emma, too," Gabby offered as Kaia ran to get her own coat.

"Two dresses, you mean." Tony nodded. "Yeah, I think she'd like that, and Bruce isn't getting here until later tonight anyway. Where are we going?"

"I thought I'd try Kleinfeld's first. I'm not Entirely sure what I want, but they have a good reputation."

"And you've seen enough reruns of wedding shows," Tony smirked. "Let me get the munchkin." He turned to walk off then stopped and turned his head back. "Would you mind possibly making it a double appointment?" Gabby blinked a little. "I know how women get about picking out their dress, but if I can swing it, and let's be honest, I'm Tony Stark, I can swing it, would you mind? I kind of want to surprise Kaia..."

"You're going to get her dress?" Gabby couldn't help but smile. "Without Uncle Loki here?"

"Loki is a big pile of emotions that he doesn't want anyone to see. I'll just record it all for him to see, and he can come to her dress fittings." Tony shrugged a little. "We talked about it earlier anyway. He didn't say it, but I kinda get the feeling that he's a fan of the big reveal."

"If you can get the store to agree I'd love to try on dresses with my cousin." Tony grinned and went off to get his youngest.

* * *

"A double appointment, Tony?" Pepper glanced at him as they looked through some dresses for Emma. "That's actually one of the better spontaneous decisions you've made." Tony shrugged and smiled.

"Yeah, well, she's my first born, and not like I won't do the same with this little midget when she gets hitched, but I gotta go all out." Tony grinned when he pulled out a shiny gold dress. He rolled his eyes when pepper shook her head. "I thought she looked surprised though, didn't you?"

"Specially Gabby when you said no budget limit to both girls. You've become domesticated, Tony Stark." Pepper smiled.

"Ah ah, you take that horrid word back. I am Not domesticated." He grinned wide when Emma ran over with a gold dress with a big tutu style skirt. "That's it, that's the one for our wedding."

"Really, Tony?" Pepper couldn't help but smile when Tony put the hanger around the back of Emma's neck and she giggled as the dress was pressed against her body and she twirled in it. "Somehow it's just perfect for her."

"Darn tootin' it is!" Tony smiled as he watched Emma hopped around with the dress. "She hops a lot, is that normal?"

"She's four, Tony, kids do strange things." Pepper pulled out a white dress with blue trim and straps and draped it over her arm. "We should go back and see if the girls are ready with their first dresses."

"Come on, sprite," Tony took Emma's hand. She swung his arm as they walked and Pepper smiled watching them. It never ceased to amaze her how much like a father Tony looked when he was with his girls.

The sat down on the couch as Gabby walked out first. Emma grinned when she saw that it was pink. It was a soft material and started to flare out at her hips. There were some crystal embellishments along the body of the dress. "I like it." Emma stated happily.

"Yeah, I figured this was the one that you picked out," Gabby snorted, smiling a little.

"Hey, Emmy?" She looked up at Tony. "Don't go into fashion babe." He rubbed her head. He glanced back and his eyes widened a little. "Did you pick out a dress for Kaia, too?" The little girl nodded happily. "That explains it."

Gabby put a hand over her mouth to hide her chuckles as Kaia came out wearing a gold brocaded ball gown, with pink and purple ruffles pleated on the side. "Time for another dress," Gabby suggested and Kaia nodded.

"You gave it an admirable try, sweety," Tony said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Pepper giggling quietly to the side.

Gabby came out, holding the front of the next dress and Pepper tiled her head to the side a little. It had a lace front with no sleeves, a ribbon belt, and a heavy skirt. She did a little spin.

"I think you're heading in the right direction," Tony spoke first, surprising Pepper and Gabby. "I think you should stick with that style, it's very flattering."

"That was surprisingly insightful," Gabby said.

"I may look like a bum at home, but I'm a designer bum," Tony just grinned.

"I want to know who picked this one out," Kaia called as she walked over in the dress. Emma suddenly gasped.

"The dress swallowed her!" Kaia was wearing a champagne colored ball gown that was easily the size of five of Gabby's dresses. She was practically swimming in the dress.

"Well, what do I really know about dresses? It's not like I'll be wearing one," Tony shrugged and all women, including the consultant, rolled their eyes at him.

Another 45 minutes into the appointment and both girls had tried on another 6 dresses each Tony was at least thankful that they had decided on a style, and now it was just searching for the right one. The consultant had hinted that they shouldn't try on anymore, for fear of wedding dress burn out. Pepper agreed, hearing about that from her own wedding years ago. If you tried on too many, chances were high that you would never be able to find the perfect dress. Tony was suddenly very happy that Loki liked being a guy most of the time. He didn't want to do this dress shopping again anytime soon. There were too many rules.

Tony sipped from his glass of water, resting his elbow on the back of the couch and running his other hand through Emma's hair. He glanced over and blinked a couple of time when he saw Gabby walking over, a grin on her face. The consultant helped her on the stand and set the small train behind her so she could see the full dress in the mirror. "Whoa," he breathed out.

She had on a fitted lace dress with a high neck and a short cap sleeve, with an open back and a small train. The lace had exquisite detail, and the bunched fabric around her waist like a belt was a perfect touch.

"What do you think of it?" Pepper asked Gabby first when she turned around to face them.

"I absolutely love it," Gabby grinned, holding her hands in front of her. "I love the lace, I love the fit, it's just," she looked down at the dress then back up and smiled, "perfect."

"Isn't there a thing you do?" Tony asked the consultant, motioning around his head. "Where you put the thing on and show them the look."

"The veil?" Tony nodded.

"Yeah, that, to give them a full view. Let's see that, I wanna see that with this dress." Gabby snorted, but smiled as the consultant walked over to pick out a veil.

"I think I have the perfect one for this dress." The woman went through the hangers, then pulled one out and walked over, gently placing a veil on her head. It was wasn't very long, but it had a matching lace detail all around the edges, giving Gabby a delicate look.

"That's it, that's the dress," Tony leaned back as Emma crawled in his lap. "Don't you think so Em?"

"You look soooooooo pretty, Gabby!" Her eyes were big as she looked at her cousin.

"I have to agree with Tony, and we know how rare that is," Pepper grinned at her niece. "I think this dress is just so you. And Steve is going to die when he sees you." Pepper didn't hide the tissue she used to dab at her eyes and Tony saw that Gabby was starting to tear up too.

"Daddy, are they crying?" Emma whispered up to Tony. "I thought they liked the dress."

"Women are strange, they cry sometimes when they're happy. And that's okay, cause it just shows how happy they are," Tony explained tot he little girl, and she nodded, pleased with the explanation. Tony held up his phone to take a picture of Gabby to show Loki later.

"Ooooooo," Emma stood up in Tony's lap and he 'umphed' and wrapped an arm around her waist before she fell back over the couch. The consultant helped Kaia up on the stand when she came out and Tony took a breath. "She looks like Belle!" Kaia had a corseted dressed with a full skirt with tulle draping, and tulle off the shoulder sleeves. The bodice had beading and crystal around it, a ball gown fit for a princess.

He didn't see the young woman up there with a wedding dress on, he didn't see how amazing she looked in the dress, all Tony could see what his little girl. A little girl who liked to hide in his lab when Loki wanted her to take a bath, a little girl who pulled on his hand to go and get closer to the goats at the zoo, a little girl who didn't care that Tony could never get the braids in her hair to look the same. She was too grown up, too fast for Tony.

"Daddy?" Tony blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Emma, her head tilted at him, and became aware that everyone else was looking at him. "Are you having happy crying, too?"

"What?" Tony scrunched his brows a little. "No, silly girl." He became aware that his lashes were a little wet when he blinked. "I just have dry eyes, that's all. Makes my eyes all watery." He heard Pepper snort from his side.

Kaia and Gabby were watching him and Kaia reached her hands out, wiggling her fingers at him. Tony raised an eyebrow at her. She just kept wiggling her fingers, urging him to come up. He picked up Emma up and put her in Pepper's lap as he got up and walked over. Kaia grabbed his hands and pulled him up next to her, looping her arm with his, facing them towards the mirror.

"When the hell did you grow up?" Tony looked at her in the mirror. "This is obviously a fever dream of mine, because you're still 8." Kaia smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. Tony pulled her closer to his side and kissed the top of her head. "My little girl is getting ready to get married."

"Not so little anymore, Daddy," she rubbed his arm. "I'm taller than you by a couple of inches now." Tony bumped her hip and she chuckled. "I love you, Dad." Tony smiled, and she saw his eyes water up again.

He wrapped his arm around her waist. "I love you more, pooh bear." Later he'd act offended that Pepper was taking pictures of them, but that was later. Gabby came up and took his other arm and he grinned. Right now, he had two little girls that had grown up much too quickly on his arms. He was allowed a minute of weakness.


	5. Chapter 5

**A****/N: I like angst and drama, and sometimes I feel bad knowing the pain that I'm going to put some characters through, but I like to reward them in the end. Only in fanfiction, usually. In other works I'm like a Joss Whedon, unashamedly killing off characters. But that's not this story. :D Have fun!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

It was until after dinner that Nathan and Steve finally got the summons to see someone about the Trials. Nathan was more than willing to let Steve lead the way, but couldn't get rid of the feeling in his gut, and it wasn't nervousness.

Odin and Thor were still gone, and Balder told them that One of Odin's advisers would be taking over for him concerning the trials. Steve and Nathan walked into the room, the closing softly behind them, and they saw a man in gold robes looking through some papers at a desk. He turned to look at them and nodded.

"You must be the two Midgardians," he grabbed some parchments and moved to a wall that was full of little cubby, filled with other pieces of parchment. He pulled one out, exchanging it for the one in his hand. "Betrothed to the princesses. Never has the line of Odin flourished so much. Well, soon to be Thor. We take our lines of succession very seriously up here." He turned to look at the two men, looking them both up and down, assessing them. Nathan didn't like it. "Do you two have any questions?"

"How many trials will we be going through?" Steve asked, all manners, even standing at attention. "And can we know the severity of each one? Or will be finding out about them as they happen?"

"As of right now, there is only one trial planned." The man opened the parchment on a table, glancing through it. "And the only piece of advice I have is this; survive."

Nathan frowned. "Survive? That's all?" He could tell that Steve was on edge. It just didn't feel right.

"Survive in an inhospitable environment." The adviser looked up at them, his hands starting to glow. "Although I doubt you'll make it back." He threw his hands at the two and they disappeared from the room suddenly. "Good riddance, filthy mortals." 

* * *

Steve and Nathan felt the ground fall from their feet and suddenly they were stumbling, falling into snow. "Oh, fuck!" Nathan sat up quickly, tucking his hands under his arms. "It's cold as shit!" He looked around, then narrowed his eyes to keep the biting wind from drying out his eyes.

"Come on, we have to find shelter." Steve pushed himself up then grabbed Nathan's arm to help him up. The boys were in jeans and long sleeve shirts. They were no where near prepared for the harsh winter weather that they found themselves in. Nathan could tell that Steve was tensing up his body, trying not to shiver. "Something to block the wind, then we can focus on building a fire." Nathan nodded and looked around.

"Where do we even start?" He started to move his feet, the snow coming up past his ankles.

"Let's head away from the wind," Steve suggested, moving closer to Nathan so they didn't lose each other. "We need to focusing on staying warm before we can worry about what happened."

"It's cold as balls out here," Nathan muttered as they started to trudge through the snow. "Funny, I don't remember pissing off that guy, yet." Steve just hummed in thought. Nathan was really happy that he was with Steve, otherwise he would probably be dead within the hour.

Steve wasn't sure how long they had been walking for but he could feel the shaking that wracked Nathan's body, could feel him start to slow down. He needed to keep the younger man moving, had to keep up awake and aware. "Talk to me Nathan, it'll help pass the time, and keep you focused on other things." He could tell that jaw was shaking from the cold.

"Right," Nathan nodded a little. "Talking. Well, Kaia and I were talking about a fall wedding, maybe even early September." Nathan had to keep his mind focused, he couldn't let the cold slow him down, physically and mentally. "I think one of our colors is red. I don't know, we should start doing more planning."

"Do you two want a big wedding?" Steve took a breath, but ot too deep, he didn't want all the cold air in his lungs.

"Do we have a choice?" Nathan cursed as he felt some snow slip past the hem of his jeans and try to fall into his shoes. "I'm engaged to a Stark."

"Of course you have a choice," Steve glanced over at him, rubbing his arms. "It's still your wedding, just plan what you want, and worry about the cameras later."

"Steve, I'm gonna need you to be honest with me here," Nathan spoke up, teeth chattering. "what are our odds if we don't find somewhere out of the wind?"

Steve swallowed and kept walking. The odds weren't good. The odds weren't that much better if they did find shelter, but they would improve. "We're gonna shelter, don't worry Nathan."

It wasn't too long after that that the wind let up a little and Steve saw a little dark spot up ahead. The entrance to what looked like a cave. He nudged Nathan's arm and the two started to move a little faster. Once inside, the wind was gone from blowing on their backs, but the chill int he cave wasn't that much better.

"Balls! It's still cold as dicks!" Nathan jumped around a little, blowing on his hands, trying to get the circulation moving a little faster in his extremities. "And I don't know about you, but i didn't exactly see any type of wood out there." Steve looked around, hands still under his arms.

"We'll need two rocks to try and create a spark with," Steve mumbled as he glanced up then over to the side. He noticed that despite the temperature there was still a lot of moss growing on the rocks and walls of the cave. "We can try to gather the moss and burn it." Nathan looked at him. "I know it's a crazy idea, but what have we got to lose? We have to try something." Steve started rubbing his hands together rapidly and blowing on them.

Nathan looked around the cave, walking a little deeper into it, hoping that he wouldn't accidentally stumble on some hungry bear, or arctic wolf, cause that's exactly what they needed. Against one of the caves walls he saw a pile of rubble and walked over, grabbing some rocks that had the sharpest edges and held them up. "Will these work?" The rocks were freezing, but he hardly felt that against her own cold skin.

"They should," Steve walked over and looked at them. "But we have to find a way to dry them out, they're soaked wet and the moisture will eat any kind of flame we try to start."

Nathan looked at the rocks then slipped on into the sleeve of shirt, letting it drop a little before twist it, creating a little pouch for the rock. He slipped into his sleeve again so that it wouldn't unroll. He did the same thing in his other sleeve and looked up at Steve's questioning look. "Well, the fabric of my shirt should suck most of the moisture out. Once we get a fire started I can just dry my shirt over that."

Steve smiled and nodded, patting Nathan's shoulder when he stood up. "Fast thinking. Alright, let get some moss and anything else we can find as kindling. I have no idea if it's night time or not because of the weather, and I'd rather be caught in colder weather if it isn't." Nathan nodded and followed Steve.

Nathan could see that Steve was starting to shake from the cold, he could feel that he was too, but he knew that this environment must be putting the soldier on edge a little. A not too friendly reminder of what had stolen him from his own time period, his old life. Nathan frowned a little thinking about it. He and Kaia has spent six years on the run from Hela, trying to find their way back home, but Steve had spent 70 years frozen alive in ice. He didn't have family to return like they had.

"Hey, Steve?" Steve turned his head to look at him as he was peeling some moss from the cave wall. "It might sound weird, or you know, something, but um," Nathan bit his lip a little, not sure how to broach the subject. "We're gonna get out of here, I'm not gonna let you freeze here. I promise I'll get you back to Gabby."

Steve looked at Nathan for a long moment before nodding, something of a soft smile on his face. "Yeah, we are gonna get out of here. Thanks, kid." 

* * *

Steve looked over and swore he saw Nathan's lips getting paler, but he wasn't sure. After an hour the two were definitely colder, and moving slower Even Steve was starting to feel sluggish, his limbs starting to feel numb. He squeezed his hands closed tightly then opened them, trying to pump a little bit of feeling into them. There was a pile of moss, and something that could of been like sticks, in a pile that he hoped would provide some warmth. Nathan sat close to it, knees pulled up, face between his knees to keep it warm, glancing up every so often.

Steve grabbed the two rocks and put them near the pile, trying to ignore the shaking in his hands. The first hit missed, one rock sliding right off the other at a bad angle. He tried again. They hit and he could see the white mark leftover. No spark, but it was a longshot in the first place. He kept trying, this was the only chance they had. Despite what Nathan had said to him earlier, there was a very high chance that they would freeze in here, and Steve didn't think they'd be unthawing him again after this one.

There was a rhythm he was building up, and if anything he could feel the blood pumping a little more in his arms. That also meant that he could feel the pain of the cold, and the fatigue quickly building. He was looking at the rocks but his eyes were unfocused. He was cold and tired and it was getting to him.

He kept going until he blinked, eyes focusing, when he felt something sharp on his fingers. "Shit!" He pulled his hands back when he saw the first flickers of an orange flame. "Nathan!" The younger man looked up and blinked slowly, trying to process what was happening. Steve cupped one hand around the fire and moved some moss, trying to slowly feed the flame, the flames turning yellow as it got hotter. "It worked, somehow it worked, there's a fire."

Nathan moved a little closer as the fire grew, the moss working to catch the fire and the light sticks helping to keep the flame alive. As if got bigger and brighter, and warmer to both their relief, it start to light up the cave they were in. It was huge, but it was plenty large, and it was clear that they weren't the only ones who had been in there. Turning around to look deeper in the cave where they didn't go there was something lying on the ground, something that looked like a body. It was blue.

Nathan's face paled a little more. "Shit, Steve. I think I know where we are."

Steve frowned. "Those weren't sticks were they?" Nathan shook his head.

"They were the bones of a Frost Giant."


	6. Chapter 6

**A****/N: This is a shorter chapter, just setting up some plot. I'm on a roll and having fun with this. There might be a couple more chapters today, maybe just one more, as a special birthday story extravaganza. :D**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki knocked on Balder's door, not stopping until the older man was up. it took a few minutes, and he heard some creative cursing from the behind the door, but it eventually opened. he had obviously woken him up.

"This had better be good," Balder growled out.

"It's morning and you should be awake anyway," Loki threw back. "Nathan and Rogers are not in their rooms, and no one has seen them." Balder blinked, running his hand through his hair. "Supposedly they were summoned by one of Odin's advisers, Jotho, to talk about the Trials, but they had not returned."

"Maybe they left early to start one?" Balder yawned. He knew that Loki wouldn't let him go back to sleep and headed back inside, leaving the door open for Loki.

"They did not return to their room, their beds have been unslept in." Balder grabbed a shirt and slipped it on. "I have a bad feeling, and it isn't this child kicking my organs."

"Again, I'm glad I'm not a shape-shifter." He sighed a little and grabbed a cloth, dipping it in his water basin to give his face a quick scrub. "Have you talked with Jotho yet?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "The man holds contempt for me for being Jotun. I must grudgingly ask for your help." Balder snorted and smirked a little.

"Ah, my little brother needs me." Loki glared at him.

"Your daughter would be most upset if something happened to her mortal."

"That's cheap," Balder pointed at him. He grabbed his overshirt, then his vest and slipped them on. "Let me just put on my boots, and we'll go. I hope for once your gut is wrong."

"As do I," Loki sighed.

The two walked down the hall and saw that Jotho's door was open. Balder knocked once and they walked inside, seeing the older man with his assistant gong through some parchments. They both bowed slightly.

"What an unexpected surprise," Jotho stood back up and looked at Balder, almost completely ignoring Loki. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"We're looking for the two Midgardians," Balder told him, adopting his official royal tone. "We were told that you summoned them last night, I assume to talk about the Trials."

"Ah, yes," he nodded. "I sent them out on their first Trial last night, actually." Loki frowned a little.

"And what was that? I was under the impression that I would be informed of the Trials, and when they would happen, before hand." Balder was starting to catch Loki's bad feeling.

"There is a slight time difference to where I was sending them-"

"Sending them?" Loki spoke up now.

"If they are to represent Asgard in the future then they must become familiar with the different locales, and the environments," Jotho responded calmly.

"Where did you send them, Jotho?" Balder asked.

"Jotunheim, of course." Jotho shrugged a little, like it should be all that clear to the others. "If they do not pass the trials, then I thought it would be more humane to let them freeze, then to let them burn on Musplheim."

Loki's jaw had dropped a little. "You sent two Mortals to Jotunheim?!" Balder put out an arm to stop Loki from advancing on the man, but didn't stop him from yelling. "They'll never survive the temperatures there, much less if they run into any Jotnar! Are you truly insane?"

"I'll will be taking over the Trials from this point on," Balder spoke, cutting off any response from Jotho or Loki. He took Loki's arm and pushed him out of the room.

Jotho watched them go, and his assistant looked at him. "Why did you tell them where they were? Surely they're going to go and retrieve them, and then tell the Queen."

"The Queen got an emergency summons from the Allfather this morning and has already left for Alfheim to attend the talks," Jotho looked at him, smirking a little. "She is not on Asgard. And I do hope they go after the two mortals, for the Frost Giants shall be waiting." 

* * *

"Surely Heimdall would have refused to send them to Jotunheim," Balder thought out loud as he walked back to his rooms, Loki next to him, bristling with anger.

"There are more than one way to leave Asgard than through the bi-frost." Loki huffed out a breath through his nose. "That man is vile and underhanded."

"And we can't have more than one underhanded person on Asgard." Loki shot Balder a look and he held up his hands in defense. They walked into his rooms and he went over to his closet. "I'm not disagreeing with you. I intend on informing Mother and father as soon as they return. But for now, I'm going to go retrieve the boys."

"Hmm, yes, you'll need to dress warmly," Loki nodded. "I shall wait, and we will depart when you're ready."

Balder raised an eyebrow to look at him. "Say what? You're not going with me."

"And exactly why not?"

"You're joking right?" He looked Loki up and down, pointedly looking at his extended stomach. "I'm not letting you go to Jotunheim when you're only a couple weeks away from having another child."

"I'm Jotun, Balder. And while on any other day I despise that fact, today it will work to our advantage," Loki argued. "In my true nature I will not feel the cold and neither will the child. I would not go if it would be a danger to my son, I am no fool, but I also cannot allow you to go on your own. The Jotun would surely kill you without a thought. It would be to your advantage to have me with you."

Balder gave Loki a hard, disapproving, look, before sighing. "You're not going to give in are you."

"I'm glad that all the years apart have not made you completely dull to my personality, brother." Loki crossed his arms over his chest.


	7. Chapter 7

**A****/N: Bum Bum Bum**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki kept on his gold and green as they went to Jotunheim, skin blue, eyes red, line prominent on his face. Balder hadn't tried to hide his curiosity when he inspected Loki's look, having only seen it maybe once in passing.

"Damn, it's cold," Balder shivered, pulling his jacket tighter around him. "It makes sense now while you were never cold when we went out hunting." Loki hummed as they started to walk through the snow. "So, do we look for them right away, or do we try to make nice with the Jotuns and ask for help?" Loki looked at him and he lifted his hands. "Right, right, look for them ourselves. Any spell you can use?"

"Not yet." Loki shook his head. "I don't want to cast one and risk being caught by someone. Let's just put your tracking skills to use right now." Balder nodded and took a breath, hands starting to glow.

"We'll have to move quickly if they've been here since last night. They're resourceful mortals, right?" Balder looked at Loki briefly.

"I wouldn't have put up with them being a constant presence in my life if they weren't good for something."

"Somehow, that actually makes me feel better." Loki snorted.

* * *

Steve opened his eyes suddenly when he thought he heard voices. He put his hand over Nathan's mouth and shook his shoulder to wake him up. Nathan jumped a little and blinked. Steve put a finger to his lips then pointed for him to move over to the wall, hide in the shadows. He nodded and rolled over, moving low and quiet. Steve moved over and pushed some of the extra moss over the fire to smother the fire out then moved to stand by Nathan.

There were two different voices, two sets of footsteps. Steve motioned for them to head further into the cave, away from the fire. Steve stopped when he suddenly ran into Nathan and looked ahead, feeling a pit in his stomach. There were three in the cave, and the third was in front of them.

"Mortals," the deep voice chuckled as the other two frost giants came over. "Probably who the others were looking for." Steve tensed when he felt the large hand grasp onto his shoulder, feeling the cold seeping into his skin.

* * *

Tony had an uneasy feeling. He watched Emma color a picture at the table while Bruce was cooking dinner. It had been a week and he hadn't heard anything from Loki, or even Nathan or Steve. Enough time had passed to hear about the Trials at least. Balder should have been back as well, but there wasn't a peep from Asgard, and Tony didn't like it.

"Tony, you're hovering," Bruce said, never looking away from the stir fry he was preparing. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Tony glanced over at Bruce, not paying attention.

"Something is on your mind, it's not that hard to see." The scientist looked at his friend. "There's a number of things that you could be worried about, but with the face that you're making I doubt it's about any of the weddings, and probably more about Loki and the baby."

"Are you sure you didn't want to become a therapist?" Bruce snorted. "Yeah yeah, you don't have the temperament" He sighed a little and nodded. "Yeah, I haven't heard from anyone up there, and it just isn't sitting right with me. I know Loki said it might take more than a week, with the time different and all, but he would have at least sent down word, or an update or something. He would have told us about Steve and Nathan too, anything."

Bruce nodded a little, not saying anything while he talked. "You know, I can stay here for a bit, watch Emma for you." Tony blinked and looked at him. "Pepper and Phil are around, and so it Gabby. And I'm sure if I needed it Clint and Tasha would come around too. it would just better if you went while I knew about it, anyway."

"Are you sure?" They both knew that Tony was only asking at this point to be polite. Bruce nodded.

"I promise I'll be good for Uncle Bruce," Emma said without looking up. "I'll listen to him, and I'll do my homework, and I'll even eat all the icky vegatabals." Tony smiled at the little girl.

"And why are you so willing to follow the rules?" Tony had to ask as he walked over and picked her up.

"Because I want Dad and the baby to be okay, and I know that you can help them." She looked at him with the most serious face she could muster. "And because you two can't miss all the weddings! We all have to dress up and dance and eat lots of food."

Tony snorted and hugged her tightly. "You are a special little girl, and you're very smart, and don't let anyone tell your otherwise." Emma giggled and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Don't be gone too long," she pointed a stern finger at him when he let her go, setting her on the ground. "I want to see my little brother as soon as possible." Tony kissed her forehead, nodding. He looked over at Bruce, who just nodded to him, before heading for the elevator to take him to the roof. He hoped Heimdall would be listening. 

* * *

Tony asked a few questions to the guards and that led him to Jotho and his assistant. He didn't like that Jotho seemed to the central catalyst for all four men disappearing, and almost wished he would have brother his Iron Man suit.

Tony didn't bother to knock on the adviser's door before he walked in. "So, where are they?"

Jotho looked at Tony, raising an eyebrow. "Where exactly are whom? There are a lot of people away from the kingdom at the moment, and-"

"You know damn well who I'm talking about." Tony was not in the mood for any crap.

"Hmmm, you mortals, always so brash." Jotho tutted and Tony frowned.

"I'm not mortal anymore, not that it should matter to you." Tony followed the man with his eyes as he walked around his office. He exchanged a parchment for one in a cubby hole, taking it over to his desk. "You don't run Asgard, you just take the orders. Now, where are they?"

"They're all on Jotunheim," he responded calmly, reading through the parchment. Tony turned his his head when his assistant shut the door to the office. "With any luck, the two mortals are dead, and Balder and Loki have been captured, possibly beheaded." He snorted a little and looked up with a small smirk on his face. "I know I shouldn't, but I dare to hope."

Tony was taken aback by the brash honesty of Jotho. "Christ, you're serious. You know you're talking about the murder of two of your Royal line, and two humans. We won't take that very lightly back on Earth."

"Just like we take the Trials of Courage so lightly? Offering it up to any mortal around?" Jotho snarled. "You were a fluke, you should have died before you were even given the chance to be granted powers like ours." He took a breath trying to calm down. "But, that's alright, I have a contingency plan."

Tony took a step forward then stopped, eyes wide, hand flying to his neck when he felt something sharp. He pulled out a small vial and looked back to see that Jotho's assistant had taken several steps back. Tony blinked sluggishly and looked back at Jotho, shaking his head to clear the fuzzy feeling.

"Please do say hello to the elves for me, I think this should price enough for the bargain." Jotho looked back down at the parchment, mumbling something under his breath before Tony felt himself drop to the ground. But he didn't land on the hard marble floor, he landed on wet grass. He opened his eyes one more time and saw three figure standing in front of him.


	8. Chapter 8

**A****/N: I may have had some fun with this chapter. Not in a good way.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Balder grit his teeth as he pulled down again on the chains around his wrists. He'd stopped feeling the sting in his wrists as the cuffs bit into his skin days ago. All he focused on was trying to loose then chains from the walls every chance he got. It had been four days since he had seen Loki and he didn't like that.

He let out a huff, seeing his breath in front of him. The more he was there the more he thought about how far Jotho's deception went. It was obvious that he meant to kill Steve and Nathan, and Balder had to hope that he wasn't too late to try and find them. He didn't like the dark thoughts that this was supposed to get him and Loki killed as well. Was Odin safe from Jotho?

He and Loki hadn't been on Jotunheim for too long before they were ambushed by a hunting party of Giants. Loki had been right when he said that having him there had helped him out. It had upgraded him from immediate death to torture in the dungeons. Everyone knew about Loki, the smallest of the Jotuns, and the one to have killed their king. He was not very welcome.

For the first week they didn't even acknowledge Loki, and he was forced to stay in his Jotun form for the sake of the baby. The second week Balder wasn't exactly sure if anything had changed. He wasn't exactly conscious for most of the week, but they still let Loki tend to his injuries when they dropped him back in the dungeon.

But the start of the third week was when they took Loki from the room. He hadn't heard from him since.

Balder pumped his hands a few more times before pulling down again. He jerked a little when he felt one of the chains start to come loose. Looking up he smirked a little. Now he had to wait for one of his captors to come back. He was able to master any weapon, and he could work with chains around his wrist to take out those in his way.

Balder closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself, focusing. He only had once chance at this and he had to get it right. He wasn't sure how long he waited, but he heard a set of footsteps approaching his cell and forced himself to stay relaxed. The door opened and the Jotun entered. He could feel the Giant and that's when he moved.

Balder surged forward, pulling down with his arms, slamming his shoulder into the Giant's stomach. He was suddenly yanked back and he blinked. Only one chain had come loose and he glanced up. The giant was getting back to his feet and Balder threw his arm forward, the chain wrapping around the giants neck. Balder put his foot quickly on the top of his head and pulled his arm back, pulling the chain taut. he had the giant trapped on the ground and quickly loosing air. He grit his teeth as the giant tried to grab his foot, he could feel the cold of the giant trying to freeze his foot.

Slowly the giant slowed then stopped moving and Balder let out a breath. He wrapped both hand around the chain that was still holding him back and pulled, hard. it came out and he fell backwards, tripping over the body behind him.

"Sonuvabitch," he cursed as he rolled to his feet. Looking he didn't see any weapons on the giant but saw a ring of keys. Something he'd probably need. "I need some goddamn warm clothes," he muttered as he leaned out, checking the hall for anymore guards. The hall was empty and he quietly ran out. First thing was that he need to find a store room with some fabric, something he could use to keep warm, and something to give to Steve and Nathan. He knew it sounded bad, but he hoped that they had been found by the Giants as well, because then they'd have a higher chance of being kept alive.

He ducked into an alcove when he heard several guards coming his way and passed by undetected. Turning the corner from where they just came from he moved quickly. It didn't take long to find a store room and he bundled up, wrapping up more clothing with string that he found, throwing it over his shoulder. He still found no weapons, but found something that looked like a shield and grabbed it, hoping that maybe Steve could use it later.

Balder was tense as he moved through the halls, using his tracking sense to find anything in the cells that wasn't a Jotun, or at least a smaller one. All his senses were on high alert and he stopped when he heard a shout. His heart raced thinking that he has been spotted, but realized that it was coming from another room. Nathan. He took off down the hall and saw that a cell door was open. Unrolling the chains from his arms he rolled his neck and threw the chain out, catching another giant around the neck. Unfortunately this one wasn't alone.

"Balder!" He heard Steve yell then grabbed the shield and threw it in the room. He pulled down, slamming the giant into the ground and moved to get out of the grasp of the other one. There was a clang and Balder looked to see that Steve had managed to throw the shield, the edge embedded in the Jotun's neck, the giant falling to the ground.

"Oph!" He gasped when he was pulled to the ground, a large hand over his chest, cold seeping through his clothes. He pulled down sharply with his arm, jerking the guard, loosening his grip and Balder rolled out, then jumped onto his back. He dug his knees in the guards back and pulled up on the chain. One more tug and her head a snap. He let out a breath and collapsed on the dead guards back.

"I can't wait to get back to my warm, warm, very warm, bed," he muttered. He rolled back to his feet and grabbed the keys and ran to Steve who was closest. "Good to see you still have some skill with round things." Steve rubbed his wrists a little when they were free and took the bundle of clothes offered to him.

"Glad to see you at all," Steve retaliated. Balder moved to Nathan, who was leaning against the wall, body looking a little too pale, maybe tinged with blue. As balder removed his shackles Steve grabbed the other clothes, wrapping Nathan in them.

He gave a slow, almost lazy smile. "Your hands feel so warm, did you know that?"

"Don't go delirious on me boy." Balder started to rub one of his hands, creating friction, to try and help warm him up. "We have to find Loki and get the hell out of here."

Nathan frowned but it was Steve who spoke first, rubbing Nathans' other hand. "What is Loki doing here? He's pregnant."

"Don't think I didn't bring that up with him before he insisted he come." Balder rolled his eyes a little. "But, if he hadn't of come then I probably would have been killed on sight."

"They didn't kill us cause they found you first," Nathan almost slurred out. His body was starting to warm up, and he was starting to get most of his functions back. "They said you were looking for us."

"How long did you guys manage to survive before you were found?" Balder looked at Steve.

"Almost three days." Steve blew on his own hands before getting up to get the shield again. "We found a cave, managed to build a fire to keep us from getting hypothermia, and found some kind of animal. I think the cave we found was often used by hunters, so we got lucky, in a sense."

Nathan was now covering his face and blowing into his hands, trying to warm up his nose. "Okay, we gotta find Loki."

"Here," Balder pushed the rest of the clothes into Nathan's hands. "You carry that, stay by Steve and me. When we find Loki we have to get out, the further away we are without being followed the better. Heimdall will be able to bring us back to Asgard then." The boys nodded and Balder helped Nathan to his feet. "I have fears that possibly, Odin, Frigga, and Thor may be in danger." He also knew that the faster they left the better Nathan and Steve would be. They would be spending at least a week with the healers.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, but Nathan seemed to move faster as they went. Balder and Steve didn't comment on it, as long as the kid made it back home. Balder stopped and whipped his head to the side. He held out his hand before the other two could say anything anything. He took off running blindly and stopped in front of a door. They could all hear the faint crying of a baby.

Balder forced the door open and he let out a breath. There was a baby, a tiny Jotun, but it was no doubt Loki's son. He was at least put in a crudely put together crib with a blanket. Balder had a thought but quickly dismissed it as he hurried in and cradled the child in his arms. Nathan pulled out a piece of clothing and handed it to Balder who wrapped the little boy up in it. He was still crying but it lessened now that someone was holding him.

"Nathan," Balder motioned with his head for the younger man to come over. He gently put the boy in Nathan's arms. "You hold him, and stay behind us. We have to find Loki, and when we do you need to be sure to be there."

"Huh?" Nathan blinked, looking up from the blue baby in his arms.

"I'll explain later, come on. Loki won't be far." Balder almost jogged from the room, Steve and Nathan right behind him.

"How do you figure?" Steve asked.

"Because they'll want to make sure that Loki hears his cries, a kind of mental torture. It's what I would do, if I were heartless." Balder frowned as they searched.

They stopped when they came face to face with two guards, stopping in front of a door. Loki's door. Balder cracked his knuckles and Steve gripped the shield. "All we have to do if get the door open, Loki will do the rest. Trust me." Steve nodded, grabbing the keys from Balder's belt.

He moved first, swinging one chain low and the other high. It had the desired affect. The guard on the left grabbed the high chain while the other was pulled off his feet when it wrapped around his ankle and Balder pulled on it. Balder felt himself go flying closer tot he giants but heard Steve moving to the door.

Ducking under a swinging fist balder managed to pull the giants towards the open door. he saw Loki sitting on the floor, head down, but still in his Jotun form. He wasn't sure what they had done to him but he was unfortunately in just the state of mind that Balder needed. "Steve! Shield Nathan!" Steve ran over and pulled Nathan down and put the Shield up, putting the three of them behind the piece of metal.

"Loki!" Balder yelped a little when one of the giants had kicked his back, sending him to the floor. "We have your son! He's safe!" Loki looked up, red eyes catching Balder's. He could see it, they had been trying to block his powers, but Loki had been gathering up energy. His pupils flashed gold when he saw the giants behind Balder. Loki stood up slowly and the guards stopped to watch him, knowing nothing good was going to come of this.

Loki's hands started to glow with a dark green energy, his eyes glowing gold and he growled, loudly. One of the Jotun stepped over Balder quickly, the other placing his foot on balder to keep him down. He tried to get to Loki, but Loki just pulled one arm out, the chain shooting out from the wall. He did the same with his other arm and took a step forward, meeting the guard. Loki grabbed his arm and bent it back quickly, snapping the bone.

Balder yelled out when the guard on him pressed down, putting strain on his spine and rib cage. Loki rolled his head cracking his neck, balled up his hands and mumbled something under his breath. Balder closed his eyes as they room lit up. He could feel power wash over him as it gathered in the room, before suddenly expanding outwards in a rush of air. His hair was pushed back, the ends of his clothes starting to fray and burn, his limbs going weak under the power.

When he opened his eyes, Loki was still standing, breathing quickly through his nose, hands still glowing with power, but his eyes were red again. "Nathan," Balder coughed out, noting that there was no foot on top of him anymore. There were no Frost Giants in the room with them anymore.

Nathan tried not to stumble in, but his body was tingling from the power that Loki let out. If Steve's shield hadn't of been there, they would have been caught in the blast and who knows what would have happened. Nathan swallowed a little when he caught sight of Loki. The god looked feral, beyond dangerous. He took a few steps closer and lifted his arm a little, showing him the fussing child.

Loki saw the boy and took a breath. He blinked his eyes a few time before stepping forward quickly and taking the bundled baby into his arms. The child quieted at once, turning and putting a small hand on Loki's chest. As Loki reached up his skin started to change back to Asgardian pale, and as his fingers brushed over his son's head he also changed. Loki closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath.

Balder groaned as Steve helped him up. "What was that?" Nathan asked first.

"They took his child from him, Loki was going to be pissed off," Balder explained. "I figured that if he saw who had taken him then Loki would kill them, but only once he knew that the boy was safe."

"He wouldn't risk the life of the baby," Steve nodded a little, agreeing, watching Loki calm down in front of them.

"That was Loki pissed?" Nathan blinked a little.

"When he attacked New York, that was about equivalent to a hissy fit," Balder told him. "Imagine what he would have done had they killed they boy."

"None of us would have survived," Steve surmised and Balder nodded gravely.

"This was lucky." Balder slowly approached his brother, making sure that Loki could see who he was and that he was approaching. "Loki, we must leave. We have to get back to Asgard, to warn them of Jotho's betrayal. I fear for the lives of the rest of our family." Loki nodded a little and pulled the clothing around the boy a little tighter. Balder squeezed his shoulder. "We'll let Tony see the child as you take your revenge, brother." He shivered a little when Loki grinned slightly. That was a promise he intended to keep. 

* * *

Tony opened his eyes wide when cold water hit his face. Coughing he looked around and saw several figures not too far away. Wherever he was it was dark and there were only candles for light. He let his eyes try to adjust before he saw that there was a man just off to his left.

"Did you know that some elves are considered to be descended from the Fae," the voice started taking and Tony tried to focus on him. Tony was on his knees, his arms pulled tight to the side, and it felt like he was against a tree. "Do you know much about the Fae?"

"Are you going to tell me that you have bright pink wings?" Tony quipped, trying to clear his head a little. "Because, honestly, that wouldn't surprise me."

"We have twisted powers, that is why our brethren drove us from exile, until we found this place, our Svartalfheim." The man moved to stand in front of Tony. Looking up he saw the man was dark, had purple-grey skin, long black hair, and pointed ear. Dark elves. "There's a theory that if one spends too much time with the Fae, then they also become twisted. We'd like to test that theory."

Tony swallowed thickly when the elf held up his hand, a small orb of tainted magenta energy forming in his palm. "This is going to hurt, Asgardian." He pushed the orb slowly into Tony's chest, just below the arc reactor. Tony gasped, instinctively trying to pull away. He could feel the power fragment, traveling through his body and he arched him back, groaning. He started to pant, scrunching his eyes closed, but refused to scream. This was just another cave that he had to find his way out of. He'd do it, because this time he had something to go back to.


	9. Chapter 9

**A****/N: **  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Heimdall." Balder quickly approached the gatekeeper as they stepped through the bi-frost. "Where is Jotho?"

"I regret to inform that he has clouded himself from my vision." The Guardian looked at Balder, then back at Loki, being flanked by Steve and Nathan. "I extend my pleasure at seeing all of you in relatively good health." He placed a hand on Balder's shoulder, leaning in closer. "I fear that Anthony is in trouble. He came here three days ago and he also has been clouded from my vision. I dare not speak of it to Loki yet, for I've seen-" Balder nodded, cutting him off.

"I'll tell him myself." Balder let out a little sigh. "I'll set out the search party immediately. Right now I have to get these ones to the Healers, and find a traitor in the midst. You haven't seen anything stirring in Alfheim around Thor and my parents have you?" Heimdall shook his head and Balder gave a sigh of relief.

"I shall help in anyway that I can." Balder nodded gratefully.

Balder walked over to Loki whose attention was focused on the little boy in his arms. "Loki, we should let the Healers look at him, and you." He lifted green eyes to meet Balder's. "Don't give me that look, you don't scare me. I want you to get checked, take Nathan and Steve with you. I am going to find Jotho, you can count on that." Loki blinked, then nodded once. Balder put a hand on the back of his neck. "Thank you."

========

Balder ordered the guards to search for Jotho, and his assistant, to be detained immediately. he went himself to Jotho's personal chambers, sensing the adviser there. He pushed the door open quietly, kicking it closed. He walked through the main room, into the bedroom and leaned against the opening to a private study. Jotho didn't stop what he was doing.

"I'm sure that seeing me must be a surprise," Balder started, watching the older man.

"It is regrettable, I admit. I assume you all survived?" Jotho finally turned to look at him. "Even the child?"

"Despite your best attempts," Balder almost growled at him. "Answer me a question or two, and I won't let my brother tear your to pieces with his own hands. Do you plot against us all? The Allfather included?" The man merely laughed.

"The mortals dying would have been overlooked, death by Trials, nothing new. You and that monster you call a brother? An act of war declared by Jotunheim, a final act from a dying realm." He smiled at Balder, a smile from a madman. "Peace talks don't exactly go as planned, and when it is all done, the oldest, and more trusted, loyal adviser steps forward to help rebuild Asgard's people."

Balder rolled his neck a little. He wanted to tear the man apart himself, but he need to ask at least one more question. "Where is Anthony Stark? Have care of your answer, for my patience is no more, and I want a straight answer."

"Ah yes, that one. He came to me, wanting to know where you were. I traded him away as the price for a deal. Worth more than I owed in all honesty, but you get what you pay for, and I want the best." He snorted and laughed. "I would be very interested to see what he is now. I never did look more into the-" Jotho's eyes widened and he looked down, eyes widening a little before he fell to the ground, arrow in his back. Balder pulled his sword immediately, defense position, ready. He stepped into the study and saw someone sink into the shadows.

Balder grabbed the arrow from Jotho's body and threw it, hearing a satisfying thud. Jogging over he grabbed the arm of the culprit. He jumped back when a dagger was slashed at him suddenly and the figure disappeared. Balder blinked, shocked, before he heard the guards run into the room.

"My lord?" Balder turned around to see the heard of the guard.

He moved his jaw a little as he thought about what he just saw. "Send more guards to the Healers rooms. Jotho was a traitor, plotting the death of the royal line, and consorting with the Dark elves. One of them concealed their way into Asgard, and I want eyes on my brother, his son, and the Midgardians. Now!" The man nodded, bowing slightly before hurrying out of the room.

The bastard had killed Jotho before he could find out the exact location of Tony, but he had a very strong lead now. He just needed to figure out how to tell Loki without him destroying every realm.

========

Tony took deep breaths, leaning back against the tree, trying to keep his eyes open. His arms had been freed, and his fingers tapped on the reactor out of nervous habit. He'd leave, if his legs didn't feel useless to him, much like the rest of his body.

He turned his head a little when he heard the crunching of ground beneath boots. A week ago he wouldn't have heard that. He saw the same elf kneel down in front of him, inspecting him. "Seems we have to move you a little earlier than I would have thought. Let's test and see how progress is coming, hmm?"

The elf stood up and a crackled of magenta power lit up on his fingers. He lifted both hands up and Tony's body suddenly moved on its own, standing up. Tony frowned and looked at the elf. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"You mean what Are we doing to you," he smirked and made a motion with his hand, Tony's legs starting to walk, following the elf. "You," the elf pointed at Tony as they walked, "are what they will never see coming."

============

Balder yawned and rolled over in the bed he was in and slowly opened his eyes. He was in the Healer's quarters as well and his whole body felt exhausted. The sun was just coming up and he let out a breath. At least he had gotten a couple hours of sleep.

"You've been asleep for longer than you think." Balder jumped at Loki's soft voice and turned to see him sitting in a chair. He was holding onto his son, holding onto a bottle.

"Shit, you scared me." Balder sat up and rubbed his face. "What do you mean?"

"You came in here two days ago, slept through the entire day yesterday and you're just now waking up," Loki answered him. "You aren't the only one, Nathan is still sleeping. I've been assured that he's going to be fine though. It's going to take a bit for his body to adjust to being a normal temperature again. Rogers will be fine as well, he is healing from the bite of a Jotun on his side, but is fine otherwise."

"And you and,..." Balder looked at the bundle in Loki's arms.

"Eindride is what I have been calling him," Loki said, looking down at the feeding infant. "But I don't think it shall be a very good name for Midgard, so I'll call him Anders, Anders Anthony. And we are both fine." Balder looked at the two of them then let out a breath. "I wanted to give you the time you needed to tell me where Tony is. I won't going charging after him, not at this moment, so don't worry."

"You know you were pretty damn scary back on Jotunheim, right?"

"Good, then no one will think to underestimate me, or think that I am weak because of my children." Loki looked up at Balder, face calm, but voice laced with a threat. "They will know that I Will kill for my children, and that I am not to be trifled with."

"I don't have an exact location on Tony, but I think I know who took him..." Balder wasn't sure what scared him more. Loki's barely contained anger, or not knowing where Tony was but who he was with. "I believe he is with the Svartalfar."

"Which ones?" Balder blinked at the calmly asked question. "Which group of elves? This is very important."

"There are different ones?" Balder frowned.

"There are dark elves, and then there are the dangerous ones," Loki started to explain. "They are tainted by the Fae, most having been stolen by Fae, changlings. There is a group that focuses on making more changlings. Balder it's very important to know who he is with. Think back to anything that Jotho said before he died."

Balder took a breath and closed his eyes, trying too recall anything that might help. "Said he traded him to complete the price for a deal he made, um, something he'd want to see what he was now? I didn't understand that at first." He saw Loki's body tense up. "Could they do that to Tony? Could they change him? He's not exactly mortal aymore, he's Asgardian-"

"And has the arc reactor in his chest, it isn't entirely magic proof. I don't know what could be happening to him, not after all this time. It is now imperative that we find him as soon as possibly." Loki leaned the boy up to burp him. "Time may be running out."


	10. Chapter 10

**A****/N: Trivia time! When I pick names for the kids, I try to get some that were from Old Norse and Norwegian/Scandinavian descent. Eindride means "One, alone" and the nickname for that ins Endre but I liked Anders better, which is a form of the name Andrew, Emma was taken from the word _ermen_ means "Whole" or "universal", and Kaia is a form of Kaja which eventually came from Katherine and roughly means "each of the two" or "torture". I like the first one better. I always go to Behind the Name for my name meanings, since I know everything is different.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Gabby flipped through some pages of a magazine and let out a breath. She was finding it hard to focus on picking any kind of flowers, table arrangements, or even food. Not when there'd been no word from anyone in almost two weeks. Usually she wouldn't worry about that, but when Tony went up to Asgard, and no one still came back it put an uneasy knot in her chest. Obviously she wasn't the only one feeling this way. Looking up from the table she saw Kaia sitting on the couch with Emma while Bruce made lunch for them. They had all gathered at Tony and Loki's, waiting.

She sighed again and closed the magazine. It wasn't going to be very long before she went up to check on her own. Heimdall wouldn't let them up if there was danger. Gabby wondered how long until she gave in. 

* * *

Tony was finding it hard to focus. His mind felt fuzzy, like a thick fog had settled in, making him lose track of time. Not that he'd be able to do anything if he managed to come up with an escape plan, not when Lanhr was able to use his body like a puppet. Whenever he tried to fight the influence of the elfs' magic he started to get a migraine.

"It's been a while since you've taken a pet." Tony didn't move as he heard voices talking from behind him. It was late and everyone else was asleep, perfect time to listen to a conversation. "Do you really want to continue with this one though? You know who he belongs to." Were they talking about him? Tony Stark was Not a pet, and he did Belong to anyone.

"The bastard Prince of Asgard? That sorcerer doesn't frighten me." Okay, maybe he did belong to Loki, but only in certain situations. Tony thought that Lanhr was sounding a little too full of himself and had never encountered Loki when he was in a bad mood.

"He managed to escape from the prison in Jotunheim, wiping out the entire detail of guards," the female voice sounded again. "If he finds us-"

"He won't, no one knows how to find us," Lanhr hissed back. "Only friends of the Fae can find them, and we have no friends to our group."

"Do you now listen to the stories of Loki?" She had stopped them, tone hard. "He is known to the elves, the dwarves, even the demons on Muspelheim. He is the reason that Hela is chained to her realm, enduring the tortures that souls of the damned must be put through."

"No, Hela was stupid." Lanhr snorted. "She had a fool's dream and got too greedy. My plan is iron clad, we are days from executing it and-"

"You think it will be ready that quickly?" Tony didn't like the surprised tone in her voice. "Lanhr, how much have you been giving him?"

"Enough that is needed. It will work, and the first person to doubt me will be the first to fall under my reign," Lanhr growled out loudly, good mood obviously gone. Tony closed his eyes when he heard the footsteps march towards him. He grunted when his shoulder was slammed into the wall he had been leaning against and opened his eyes. He didn't like the sight of Lanhr in front of him with a glow behind his eyes. He was pissed and Tony was going to be the outlet for his anger.

He flicked his hand out, a large magenta orb appearing in his hand, much larger than anything he had used on Tony before. "I would hear you scream this time." Tony frowned then gasped when Lanhr slammed his hand onto his chest, shoving the power into him.

His chest was on fire, it was burning and he couldn't get to it. The fire started to spread through his veins, he felt like he was burning up on the inside. He arches his back, pressing his head against the wall, breath speeding up as he tried to get cold air into his lungs to combat the heat. That's when the power fragmented.

Tony's eyes widened and for the first time in a week he screamed. Everything inside felt like it was being torn and cut by shards of glass, worse pain than the shrapnel in his body had ever caused him.

Lanhr stood up and watched him writhe in pain, watched the magenta swirl in his eyes, but it didn't satisfy him. Not yet. His finger crackled with more power, waiting. 

* * *

Nathan turned his head on the pillow, smiling at the familiar feeling of fingers in his hair. "Time to wake up," a soft voice whispered to him.

"Mmmm, don't wanna," he mumbled out. The bed was warm, and he wanted to stay warm, he didn't know why, but warm was good.

"Come on Nate, I haven't seen you in a while." That was Kaia's voice, he liked hearing her voice when he started to wake up. He felt her fingers brush above his eyes and he slowly blinked them open. "There are those amber eyes I love so much."

Nathan reached up and took her hand, rubbing her knuckles and smiled at her. He looked around and noticed that they weren't in their bedroom. Right, Asgard. Kaia kissed him lightly and helped him sit up. "What are you doing up here?"

"We were getting worried, you've been gone for a while." Kaia ran her hand through his hair.

"We?" Nathan raised and eyebrow and Kaia motioned to the side. Nathan turned and saw Steve and Gabby on a couch, Gabby's head tucked under his chin as he ran his hand through her hair. "Have you seen your brother?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "Dad let me hold him for a couple minutes. He's smaller than Emma was when she was born. so he'll probably be the tallest of the three." Nathan snorted and smiled.

"He has a name now," Loki said as he walked over, sitting in the open chair, sans baby. "You were asleep when I named him. Eindride Anthony Stark."

"Or Anders to for short," Kaia added. "Dad's ego is going to get bigger when he hears his name." Nathan frowned. Tony hadn't heard the name yet? Did that mean he wasn't here? That didn't seem right to Nathan.

Balder walked over and caught Loki's eyes. He looked at him and saw the grim look on his face. Loki nodded once and got up, following him, leaving Kaia and Nathan alone again. "Is it about Tony?" Balder nodded once.

"They found him," he said quietly to his younger brother, not wanting the attention of anyone else in the room. "On Alfheim."

"At the peace talks?" Loki frowned. "What aren't you telling me?"

"He's in the dungeons, they're saying he was part of an assassination attempt, to kill Odin and and our uncle, Frey." Balder looked at Loki when he stopped walking. "I told you because I'm leaving to go there immediately. They need to be told of what has happened."

"I'm coming as well." Balder nodded.

"I figured as much. I will meet you at the bi-frost." He watched Loki walk off quickly and ran a hand through his hair. He started to wonder when things got so complicated, so quickly.


	11. Chapter 11

**A****/N: The plot thickens!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony glared at Lanhr as the stood stood facing each other. Everyone else was moving behind them, getting ready for something, something that Tony wasn't going to like. His body felt warm, his hands and head tingling with some kind of anticipation. Someone handed something to Lanhr, but neither man looked away from each other to see what it was. Lanhr smirked and Tony glared harder.

"I usually don't like to send out my pets on something so important, but you, no you are special." Lahnr just smiled then looked at the object in his hands. "You I entrust with this mission, it is of the utmost importance. I also like to show off my new toys."

"You're a real piece of work aren't you?" Tony watched him. "You remind me of, well, me. When I was still a dick."

Lanhr snorted a little, smirk still on his face. He grabbed Tony's hand and pulled his arm out, opening his hand. Tony stiffened a little when he felt something heavy and metal in his hand. He looked down and saw two golden daggers. "We'll be taking a little trip soon, somewhere where you'll still in touch with Fae magic. There you'll be able to see just how much better I've made you."

"Not to sound like a teen magazine, but I was pretty happy with the way I was." Tony tried to flex his hand, hoping to drop the blades. He felt the pain creeping in at the corners of his eyes.

"I've improved you." Lanhr turned and started to walk, a motion of his hand and Tony was following him. "And you're going to need it where I'm sending you." Tony could feel the prickles of magic as they kept walking. A little worryingly, he recognized it as a portal. "We'll follow soon after, and if you perform well, you'll get a reward."

"Your head on a silver platter?"

"No, the Allfather's." Lenhr smirked, shoving Tony into the portal.

Tony took a breath and looked up, squinting a little at the sudden change in lighting. He was in what looked like a palace, more white than the gold of Asgard. If this was Alfheim then it made sense. His body straightened up and he started to move against his will. His steps were silent and fast. He flipped the second dagger to his other hand as he moved. He saw a pair of tall door, partially open, and heard talking. He could hear Thor's voice and felt his stomach drop.

They wanted him to kill them, to kill Thor and Odin. He grabbed onto a ledge in the architecture of the wall and started to pull himself up. He wondered for a second if this was what Clint and Natasha felt like when they were on missions.

Gripping the edge of the door he swung himself in and up, moving to the shadows. Looking down he saw four guards in the room. Thor, Odin, and two other men were in the room sitting at one end of a long table. He felt his arms want to move but he closed his eyes and stopped. He felt the pain again in his head as he fought the control. Tony swore he heard a growl in the back of his mind as his eyes snapped open and he started to move again.

Tony could fight it, not all the way, but enough. Maybe he could botch the attempt, warn Thor, get them to stop him. That was the only plan that he had right now.

There was a tingle in his hands and he suddenly found himself on the ground, feeling the magic working through his body. Tony grit his teeth and made his next footsteps clumsy as he headed for a guard. The tall elf turned at the noise, calling out to the others.

"Tony?" He could hear Thor but his body was too engaged in fighting the guards. He swung a dagger for one of the guards necks but pulled back, letting out a shout of pain as he did. He rolled away and against the wall. He took a deep breath and went to push away, but stopped, gritting his teeth. He arched his back as pain went shooting through his spine. He felt the guards grab his arms, the two daggers dropping to the ground with a heavy clang.

He was breathing heavily, but smiling a little as they dragged him off. He could feel the anger, the hatred, from Lenhr in his mind, but it didn't matter, not right now.

* * *

"Give me one good reason why he should not be executed immediately?" Balder and Loki heard the angry voice of their Uncle as they walked through the halls of Alfheims palace.

"Because I know him, that was not Anthony," Thor defended. Balder pushed open the doors and they walked in. Thor, Odin, Frigga, and Frey turned to look at them.

"You're right Thor," Loki spoke up before Frey could argue Thor's words. "I'd like to know where he's being held."

"I'm not just going to let you go to him only to find that you've both disappeared," Frey argued, looking at Loki.

"Frey," Frigga frowned, looking at her brother.

"The man came here to kill us, that much was obvious, and Loki's reputation for escaping and trickery isn't exactly a secret." Frey looked at Frigga, then back at Loki. "I'm sorry sister, but I won't let that happen."

"Then we'll all go down there, right now," Balder spoke up. He knew Loki was still a little raw from Jotunheim and didn't want a magic show down with the King of Alfheim, Uncle or not. "We'll all talk to him and find out who's telling the truth."

"I think that even you could agree to that," Odin said as he looked at Frey. The man growled once but nodded, moving as his guards flanked the group.

Frigga put a hand on Loki's cheek and he looked at her. She gave him a soft smile, a promise that they would talk later. He nodded once as they started walking. They were heading down towards the dungeons, but Loki shouldn't have been surprised, if what they say was true. As they got closer Loki tensed. They could hear shouting; Tony's voice.

"You're torturing him?" Loki tried to keep the growl out of his voice, but by the way Thor and Balder looked at him he didn't do very well.

"Not yet," Frey frowned as he heard it. The two guards were standing outside of Tony's cell, confusing the King even more. The door opened and Loki was the first one inside. Tony had golden shackles on his wrist, glowing slightly as they worked at blocking any of his powers. He was crouched on the floor, knuckles white as he panted.

"Tony," Loki dropped to his knees, putting his hands on Tony's face. "Shhhhh, I'm here. Can you hear me?" Tony didn't open his eyes as he fidgeted. His body was tense, shaking with pain.

"Can you find out who's doing this?" Balder asked stepping closer to Loki. He knew they would have to work quickly to try and find what Fae had been with Tony, Loki feared that the fae would try to kill Tony to not be caught.

"Not yet," Loki shook his head. "The runes on the shackles are the only thing keep him alive, even if they are the cause of his pain."

"What are you talking about?" Frey asked and Balder turned to answer him.

"These talks you've been asked to host have been a front, a decoy," Balder told him. "Don't let anyone leave for there is a traitor in our midst. While you've been here there's been a plot on Asgard, as I'm sure there will be others being hatched. One of the advisers, Jotho attempted a coup for the throne of Asgard." Balder started to tell them of what had happened since Odin and Thor had left.

Loki ran a hand through Tony's hair, hands glowing green softly as he tried to ease Tony's pain. The shackles stopped the Fae from keeping a direct connection with Tony, but they also separated him from the rouge magic that was inside of his body. Although it caused Tony pain, Loki saw this as a good sign. If Tony had completely bonded and attached to the fae magic inside then it could have made things complicated. He need Tony to stay unattached.

"I'm going to help you," Loki said quietly to the younger man. "I know you can't hear me, but I'm going to change all of that. I will make sure that everything is okay. I promise."


	12. Chapter 12

**A****/N: The plot thickens!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Steve gently rubbed his thumb over the few strands of dark hair on Anders head as he shuffled in his arms. The boys eyes were closing, he wanted to sleep, but they had noticed that it was hard for the boy to sleep when Loki wasn't around. An unfortunate side affect from being separated on Jotunheim.

Steve turned to look when he heard someone at the door. He saw Gabby stretching her arms, leaning against the door. "Super hero hearing?" She smiled sleepily over at him. "Or have you not been to sleep yet?" It was pitch black outside and Steve was standing out int he hall outside their room. When they heard that Tony had been found Steve offered to watch Eindride for him. Gabby had them move the crib right into their room so they'd hear whenever he woke up.

"I think I slept for a couple minutes, but I heard him starting to toss," Steve admitted. Gabby walked over and leaned against the back of his shoulder, smiling at the sleepy baby, running her fingers through the shorts of Steve's hair at his neck.

"Steven Rogers, you look positively amazing with a child in your arms," Gabby mumbled into his shoulder, smiling. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

"I think you might have alluded to it when Emma was born." Steve smirked at her. "Scarily enough, I think Tony might have said something too."

"Hmm, yeah, that sounds like him." Gabby nodded agreeing. "Sadly, I don't think little Anders is going to get many peaceful nights until he's with both Tony and Loki." Steve hummed, nodding. Gabby started to return many favors and ran her hands along his shoulders before starting to rub his back. "You've been very tight and tense since I got here."

"I think we all have been. It'll get better soon though, I'm sure of it." Gabby nodded and kissed his shoulder.

"Come on back to the room, at least sit in a comfortable chair while you try to lull him to sleep." She put her hand on one of his arms, leading him back to the bedroom. They both missed the shadow darting along the hallway.

* * *

Loki sat on his knees in front of Tony, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly, his hands outstretched and facing the floor in front of him. he'd been like that for three hours. Balder was sitting outside in the hall, watching him through the open door. Tony was still on the floor, trying to roll into the tightest ball he could, still shaking with pain and not responding to any outside interaction. Loki was going to try and find the Fae that had done this to his fiance, and pull Tony back to the conscious world.

Balder didn't move as he heard the heavy footsteps of his brother. Thor sat down next to Balder and looked over at Loki. "I can't hep but feel that you left out some parts of your story, brother."

"I recounted every detail needed to help uncover a conspiracy," Balder responded easily.

"I sense a hostility in Loki that I have not seen for over two decades." Thor looked at Balder. "What happened in Jotunheim?" Balder rolled his jaw a couple of times. he didn't feel that they needed to know about Loki's son being taken from him, no that was something he felt that Loki should tell them, should he choose too. But he didn't think that Thor would give him a choice in the matter right now.

"They separated Loki and I about two weeks after they caught us," Balder said quietly. "I know he was trying to hide it, but I could see that something was happening with him and the child. When I was looking for him I found the babe first, alone, and away from Loki." He took a breath, watching his youngest brother's back. "They kept them just far enough apart that Loki could still hear him when he cried."

He thought he heard Thor crack his knuckles. "He hasn't said it, but I could tell that they were doing something to keep him from using his powers, otherwise he would have killed them and escaped sooner. The Healers confirmed it but wouldn't tell me exactly how they did it. That's besides the point," Balder shook his head a little. "When he was sure that his son was safe,... We were the only ones to walk out of that prison, Thor."

"Is that the reason why you stay so close to our little brother?" Thor looked at him and Balder glanced over. "To keep the peace?"

"To make sure he doesn't go on a blood rage for what has been happening to his family," Balder corrected. "When we find the Fae that did this Tony, and the person plotting all of this, make note that I will not stop Loki from killing them." He looked back at Loki. "I've watched him work to piece himself back together, and he's had Tony there, and now his kids. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who tried to break him back down deserves what they get."

Thor put a hand on Balder's shoulder. "Thor, don't ever give the throne of Asgard to me. I will deny it. I am not meant to be a ruler, I am barely meant to be a father." Thor frowned but Balder continued before he could say anything. "Leslee was amazing with the kids while I worked, I mean, I never could have done it. I couldn't, not after she died. I don't know how I managed to ingrain myself with the Potts family, but if it wasn't for Pepper, and even Tony and Loki, those kids wouldn't have turned as well as they did. I'm just trying to be a brother and that's hard as shit."

Balder sighed and deflated against the wall a little. "How do people do this?"

"Not easily," Thor assured him. The two sat in silence, being a support for each other and their youngest brother. Being a family.

Loki suddenly started to move his arms, slowly, but Balder leaned forward to watch. He reached his arms out gently placing his hands at Tony's temples, fingers sliding against his hair. Tony's face scrunched up and he started to shake his head. Loki leaned forward further, hands keeping a grip on his head.

The air started to get tense and Thor and Balder stood up. There was a suddenly flash of light, a loud bang, and something slamming into Thor. Loki suddenly screamed in pain and Balder opened his eyes from the light. Loki was in the golden shackles and Tony was rolling up from the ground. Balder frowned and saw magenta eyes instead of brown and ducked when Tony suddenly swung at him.

Thor reached out to catch Tony's arm but he ducked down and threw himself into Thor's chest, knocking him against the wall. balder managed to jump over a well placed kick to the knee, but missed the other foot coming up and catching him in the stomach. Tony took off running down the hall and Balder was close on his heels. He jumped, tackling Tony to the ground, flipping him onto his back and putting an arm across his shoulders to keep him down, sitting on his legs.

"Who are you?" He growled. "Who controls Tony Stark?" Balder could see power start to dance across Tony's fingers but didn't move off of him. He pushed down with his arm, getting a grunt from the man pinned beneath him. "You won't get him, not completely. You're plans are failing, and I Will find you. You had better hope that I find you before Loki does."

"That piece of filth wouldn't be able to touch me." It was Tony's voice, but it sounded wrong. The words hissed out of his mouth with venom. "None of you would, and I would see you all bleeding on the floor in front of me. You can be sure that I'll have my pet do it, And I'll save that Jotun bastard for last, making him watch as my pet rips his precious family apart! There's too much of me inside of Stark, it's already seeping into his very being, you'll never be rid of me!"

Tony's eyes suddenly widened and the magenta drained from his pupils as he let out a shout. He tried to arch his back but couldn't with balder on top of him. "Get this bastard out!" Tony shouted, the real Tony. "I don't care how, just Do it!" He grunted and tried to move his shoulders but Balder kept him down. There were footsteps behind him and Tony gasped before closing his eyes and trying to roll up again. The guards had come, slipping the gold shackles on his wrist again.

Balder sighed and rolled off of him as the guards picked him up to take him back to his cell. He got up and followed them and saw Loki standing next to Thor, rubbing one of his wrists. "You okay?" Loki just grunted. "Did you find anything out?"

"I have an idea, but I can't be sure." His eyes followed Tony as he was taken back inside the cell. "I didn't get enough time to analyze the magic around him."

"I don't know if it will help, but I saw the color of the magic." Loki's head shot over to look at him. Loki knew the most about magic on Asgard, he should have known that it could be important to the sorcerer. "It was in his eyes, but I think Tony's learning how to fight it." Balder shook his hand out to let Loki see the magenta sparks. "I collected a little of it."

Loki quickly grasped Balder's hand, using his fingers to pull the power from his brothers and smirked. "Lanhr," he hissed out. Loki closed his hand tightly and the power puffed out in a magenta cloud before disappearing. Loki hissed out something in another the language and one of the guards stopped to look at Loki, face paling a little.

"I'm suddenly glad that I never took the time to learn the language of the elves," Balder murmured.

"It was very graphic," Thor agreed. "Come, we must tell Uncle Frey who it is. It should help uncover the rest of this plot against the Nine Realms." Balder glanced at Loki who was watching Tony again. After what he heard what the fae had said through Tony, he hoped that Loki did find him first. The bastard deserved every bit of pain he would get.


	13. Chapter 13

**A****/N: And to think that there are still weddings that have to happen after this. I may also have just watched Iron Man 3. I don't know what that means for the others yet either. :)**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Steve had managed to stay asleep after Gabby got up in the morning, going to get breakfast for the three of them. He was usually a light sleeper, force of habit, but he had gotten used to Gabby sleeping next to him and didn't wake up when she moved naturally. He did wake up when he heard the door open but a margin of an inch and stop. he didn't open his eyes, didn't move, kept the same breathing pattern, but just listened.

Something stopped by the bed, moving closer to the crib and that's when Steve moved. he slid off of the bed, lower to the ground as the stranger threw a high punch. He aimed a fist at their knee but they moved too quickly and blocked. He pushed himself up but got caught in the jaw, getting thrown back onto the bed. Kicking his foot up Steve caught the person in the face and he flipped back to his feet, grabbing their arm and spinning them away from the crib.

His eyes widened a little when there was a dagger at his throat, and a hand with an orb of orange power at his chest. "I had not expected the babe to be so well protected," a female voice hissed out. Steve managed to get a look at her face as she spoke, and from what Loki had described the day before he was facing one of the dark elves that Tony had been with. "Perhaps I'll take you as my pet, I've never had one so intriguing as you before."

"I think that you're going to leave instead," Gabby's voice hissed from the doorway. Steve glanced over at her. The elf snorted and smiled, never taking her eyes away from Steve.

"Do you have a claim over this mortal? He is a fine specimen, it's true." The elf tilted her head a little, moving her face closer to Steve. She moved and suddenly Steve was on the ground as the woman reached for Eindride. "But he's not what I was sent for."

"Touch him and you will regret it." The elf laughed, hand glowing orange above Eindride, the boy started to toss and fuss, crying noises building in his throat.

"What's a halfling bitch like you going to do about it?" She questioned, looking back. The elf grabbed Eindride and he started to cry.

"I warned you." Gabby growled and threw her hand out, a light blue light surrounding her hand. Ropes of light shot out and wrapped around the elf's arm and chest. Steve moved and grabbed Eindride from her as the light wrapped around her other arm and started to pull her away from the crib. He pulled the blanket up and cradled the boy against his chest.

The elf was thrown to the ground out in the hall, light blue ropes of energy securing her as the guards ran down after hearing the crying. They pulled the elf off to the dungeons as Steve moved closer to Gabby. He noticed that her eyes were glowing lightly until she blinked. her hands stopped glowing and her knees started to give out.

"Watch out," he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back to the bed to sit, still holding onto the baby. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded putting a hand to her forehead. "I think I just used my powers for the first time.

"I'm sure Anders thanks you," Steve told her, kissing her head. "You just saved him." Gabby smiled at them, kissing his knuckles.

"Should have used your powers to save yourself," a voice hissed from the shadows of the room and Steve moved instinctively closer to Gabby. The door slammed shut, the lock engaging, and the floor started to fill with dark smoke. "Now I will just take what I want."

Gabby took Eindride from Steve and he turned, throwing an elbow out to catch their mysterious company. His arm was shoved down in mid swing and a hand grabbed his closed fist, magenta energy arcing over it. Steve grunted and was forced down to one knee as the power ran down his arm like lightning.

"Steve!" Gabby slipped to the ground when Steve was thrown on his back, clutching his arm to his chest, still crackling with energy. Lenhr stepped out of the shadows and watched them.

"Give me the child now, and I will let the two of you live." He sighed a little as he said it. "Even that sounded bad to my ears. Better offer, give me the child and I'll let you become what I turned Anthony into. I guarantee that it's better than death."

"No," Gabby glared up at him. Her hands were glowing dimly and Steve reached up to take her hand with his good one. She clutched onto his hand and the blue around her hands turned darker and brighter. "You'll never touch this child." The Fae growled then reached forward, only to be stopped by by a shield around the three of them that shimmered blue when he failed to get through.

Lenhr narrowed his eyes then walked over to the door. He put his hand over the handle and pushed down, melting the metal to the door frame. he walked back over to the three on the floor and reached up to grab something, a stick appearing in his hand. he started to trace runes and symbols into the floor, the black smoke clearing away from where he had burned the writing into the floor. Moving around the circle he stopped when the circles met, his stick disappearing as he straightened up.

Gabby tensed when she heard the howling of wolves from inside the room. Steve had managed to sit up and kept a tight grip on her hand. Their circle of protection was the only thing keeping them safe.

"When you decide that you've had enough of that shield, my animals will find you, and bring you to me." Lenhr stepped away.

"We still have your other elf." Steve watched him as headed back for the shadows.

"She's expendable, she failed," he shrugged. "I can always get a replacement. Maybe one of you two." He smirked a little as he disappeared. Gabby and Steve could see things moving in the black smoke. 

* * *

"Loki." Loki turned to see Thor coming down the hall. "They've found the traitor."

"Did Frey pull a name from him?" Loki wanted to know how far to extend his spells. He hadn't felt this much fury in his body in a long time. While he didn't relish it, he wasn't pushing it away yet. Loki wanted to get this over with, he wanted to get back to his son, wanted to take Tony back with him.

"It seems he was also being manipulated by Lenhr," Thor told him. "His plans are very thorough and run deep."

"He didn't plan on encountering me," Loki growled. "He had hoped that someone would have been good enough to get rid of me." Thor watched him closely. "Don't worry, Thor, I won't become your enemy again. Did the traitor give a location?"

"He said he would be close, that the Fae wanted to take Alfheim first." Thor confirmed.

"As part of an imagined sleight, I'm sure. Good, then I won't need to go far." Loki grabbed his jacket from the ground and pulled out a small box and handed it to Thor. "I need you to help me. Close the door, and put the charm inside on the handle. No one is to come in, no matter what."

"What are you planning?" He took the box from Loki regardless.

"I'm going to remove Lenhr's presence from Tony," he said and looked at over at Thor. "I will then take it and it will lead me to him. That charm will prevent Lenhr from sensing what I'm doing." Thor nodded and took a step outside of the room. "No matter what, Thor, no one must come in here." He nodded and started to shut the door, engaging the lock.

Loki took a breath and walked over unlocking one of the shackles from Tony's wrist. As he unlocked the second one he put a glowing hand around Tony's wrist. The man gasped and opened his eyes, brown reaching Loki's green.

"I'll be damned if this isn't the best sight I've seen in a while," Tony gave a small smile.

"You already are damned, and I'll be the best sight you see for the rest of your life." Loki snorted and raised an eyebrow at him. "We've still got to get married later on."

"Oh good, you didn't forget." Tony sagged a little and let his legs unfold out in front of him. "I think we missed Thanksgiving."

"Hmm, yes," Loki nodded a little as his other hand gently ran along Tony's neck and shoulders, fingers glowing. "That one I do regret missing, just this once."

"Because you wanted to pig out on all the food, and would have blamed it on being pregnant?" Tony smiled and closed his eyes.

"I think that perhaps you are coming to know my motives too well." Loki's and wrapped around and started to run along his jaw.

"What's his name?" Tony asked softly. Loki glanced at him but kept running his finger along the mans face, wrist still gripped in his other hand. "He's healthy, right?"

"He is quite well, but will be better once both of his parents are with him, I'm sure of it." Loki would tell him later the details surrounding his birth. "I've named him Eindride." Tony raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes closed. "But also chose the nickname of Anders for your silly mortals. His middle name is Anthony."

"You spoil me," Tony smiled, placing a small kiss on Loki's fingers when they ran past his lips. "What exactly are you doing? Not that I'm not pleased with getting felt up, but I can actually think and that's not something I've been used to for the past several days."

"I'm going to remove the rogue magic inside of you," Loki started to explain. "I'm pulling it all up into one area so I can remove it all at once. I've blocked any prying eyes from being able to detect you, so Lenhr won't know what I'm doing."

Tony nodded a little. "And then what?"

"And then I shall use his own power to find him."

"And then kill him, right?" Loki paused a little and looked over at Tony's face to see brown eyes staring at him. "I know that kill is not ever first on my list of things for you or me to do but, if this guy isn't one of the ones to deserve it then I don't know who is." Tony reached over with his free hand and gently touched Loki's cheeks, almost hesitating, afraid he wouldn't actually be there. "The only thing I want is for you to come back to us, to me, in one relatively sane, piece." Tony moved suddenly, pressing his forehead against Loki's. "You can fall on me when this is over. I will be there to catch you and help you."

Loki took a breath and closed his eyes, nodding gently. "I know you will." He felt Tony move closer, their lips gently brushing against each other. "You're teasing me now, Stark." He felt the lips smirk.

"Can't let you get too distracted. Think of it as a preview for after, when we have some alone time." Tony pulled away.

"We won't have that for some time now, we have a newborn and a four year old to care for." Loki opened his eyes and took his hand away from Tony's face.

"We'll just have Kaia and Steve take turns watching them." Tony chuckled a little. "And we'll take a small siesta."

"I don't imagine that Steve will object, but I don't think that will last for long." Tony raised an eyebrow as Loki as he started to pull out a wooden box from his pockets. "It seems that perhaps the Captain is warming up to the idea of having his own children."

Tony let out a little groan, tinged with a smile. "And Gabby's maternal instincts have been switched on since she saw her niece five years ago. God do you know what's going to happen?" Loki raised an eyebrow this time. "Those two are going to have perfect little blonde haired babies, and their going to be gorgeous. The Earth is doomed, doomed I tell you!"

"I must be more insane than I thought," Loki muttered. "I actually missed your dramatics." Tony laughed and Loki couldn't help but smile at the sound. He also missed that.


	14. Chapter 14

**A****/N:**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Thor and Balder stood by the door, waiting. The charm was still intact and glowing on the door an hour later. When they heard the first shouts of pain the sent the guards away, they figured Loki wouldn't want a crowd gathered. But the room had been silent for a while and they wondered if things were going according to Loki's plan.

There were two pounds on the door from the inside and the two brothers glanced at each other. "Did he say when to let him out?" Balder asked. Thor just shook his head. Balder walked over slowly and reached up to open the slider to see into the room. He jumped back when Loki's green eyes were waiting for him. "By the Norns! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Good, now let us out." Thor unlocked the door and pulled it open. Tony was leaning against Loki's back, both men looking tired. Loki had a hand on Tony's back, making sure the man followed him. "We don't have much time to leave."

"We?" Thor asked as he and Balder followed them down the hall, leaving the dungeons.

"You think I'm going to let him get his revenge alone?" Tony looked over at the two older brothers and smiled. "He tried to change me, and tried to use me to assassinate you, and kept calling me his Pet. I am no one pet, thank you very much." Loki snorted and Tony pushed on his back.

"We're going to find the Fae, and you two and our parents should return to Asgard." Loki suggested as they headed up the stairs, and towards the exit of the palace. "Asgard has been without a ruler for too long."

"We'll just go back there when we're all done anyway," Tony added. Loki pulled out the wooden box as they stepped outside. "Have fun boys, we'll see you later." Tony wrapped an arm around Loki's waist as he opened the box and they disappeared in a trail of magenta magic.

The two appeared in a wooded area, but stayed quiet. They were close, they could hear voices and movement not too far away. Loki spelled their steps to stay quiet as they moved closer.

"Where is he!" Tony's hand tensed a little when he heard Lenhr shout. They heard the growling of wolves and pushed themselves against some trees, glancing over into a clearing. There was a heavy thud and the whimper of a wolf. "Tell me Now!" Tony's squeezed his hands into fists when he saw Lenhr standing in front of Gabby. He almost growled when they saw that her clothes were bloody and saw wounds on her arms. Bitten by wolves.

"Somewhere you can't get him," she spit in his face and he slapped her hard, her head snapping to the side.

"I was going to let him live if you told me." Tony caught Loki's eyes and looked to the side. The whimper they heard before was Steve trying to hold his own against a pack of rather large wolves. He was holding on to a large serving platter he had taken from Asgard. Steve and his shields, there was nothing that could stop him.

"I'm not worried about him, I'd be worried about your animals." Gabby responded, slowing turning his head back, rolling her neck a little.

Loki held up his hand, his fingers counting down, and Tony nodded, ready. On one Loki disappeared and Tony walked out into the clearing. "Didn't anyone teach you how to treat a lady, Lenhr?" Gabby looked over but Lenhr just smirked. "I can give you a few pointers if you'd like, I had some practice many years ago."

"I hope you don't think that you and your sorcerer can actually get one over on me," Lenhr turned to Tony and started walking over to him. "Did you think that you could actually get rid of my magic inside of you? Whatever you think you did, you'll never be free." He held his hand up, power dancing in his palm. "I was inside of you, in your mind, I saw your core." He pulled his hand towards him then frowned when Tony didn't move. Tony had a sense of deja vu with a certain scepter.

"How badly do you underestimate Loki? I'm just curious, because he'll kill you regardless." Tony shrugged a little. "I mean, he cleared out an entire Jotun prison without moving too far from his cell. Does that really sound like someone you want to be messing with? Although I've been wrong before, and when I messed with him, well I share a bed with him now. But I'm fairly certain you won't get the same reaction."

"There's only one way to get rid of my influence," Lenhr growled, moving closer to Tony.

"You know, he told me that," Tony nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "It's the soul sharing thing right? Yeah, we did that, without hesitation. I did give up my mortality for him, so this seemed like-" Tony gasped when he was thrown back into a tree. "Yeah, I still don't know how to keep my mouth shut.

Lenhr turned when he heard a chorus of whimpers and saw his wolves on the ground, Loki standing in front of Steve. The Fae growled then turned taking large strides to grab Gabby. Steve threw the platter and it ricocheted off of a rock and hit his arm, cutting the fae deeply. Loki was suddenly in front of him and grabbed his neck, lifting him up.

"You can't kill me with your powers alone," Lenhr growled out at Loki.

"Yes, I'm aware," Loki replied drolly. "You're magic is tainted, dirty." He smirked at the scowl on Lenhr's face. "I am a very knowledgeably man, learning is kind of a hobby for me. I know about the Fae, I know about the elves, I know a lot. I also know that you won't be able to fight against your own magic." Loki took the box out of his pocket and threw it into a fire that had started a few feet away.

The fire shot up, burning magenta and Lenhr's eyes widened. "That's the magic you put inside of my partner. That's the magic that's going to rip you to shreds when I throw you into it."

"Answer me something first, Frost Giant," Lenhr's hissed out and Loki tightened his hand around his throat. "How did it feel when they took your son from you? Like you were taken when you were just a babe?" Loki's glared and threw him into the fire without a second thought.

Tony waked over and took his hand, rubbing it a little. Loki looked at him and smiled gently. They turned and saw that Steve was kneeling in front of Gabby, both looking like they'd taken four rounds with the wolves.

"Are you two okay? Well, relatively okay?" Tony was the first to ask as they walked over.

"We should be asking you that," Steve looked at him and helped Gabby stand.

"Hey, my head was just messed with, I didn't get mistaken for a snack." Tony helped Steve keep his balance when he noticed he was favoring his leg. "Come on, let's get back to Asgard and the Healers."

"Oh, I'm sure they're going to have a mouthful for you, Rogers." Loki smirked as his hands started to glow. "You disappear for one day and now they have to tend to you again. I will for once be happy to not be on the receiving end of that conversation." Steve smacked his lips a little as Gabby just rested her head on his shoulder, smiling a little.


	15. Chapter 15

**A****/N: This story isn't over yet! Still several chapters to go! :)**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Dad!" Tony and Loki were almost knocked back when Kaia ran, wrapping an arm around each of their necks and hugging them close. "You two are not allowed to leave anymore!" Tony chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Is that an order?" Tony smiled and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Damn straight it is." Kaia pulled back and looked at them. "You two look exhausted. What happened?"

"Lots of stuff, not limited to eternally bonding our souls," Tony shrugged a little as he wrapped his arm around Loki's waist, slipping his hand into his pocket. They started to walk back towards their rooms, having just come from the Healers. "We'll see you in the morning pooh bear!"

"Nathan is waiting for you in your room." Kaia called as they walked away. "Send him back to our room!" Tony held up a hand nodding.

"You know, if we keep attracting trouble, you're going to run out of things to do as a romantic surprise," Tony said to Loki as they walked. "I mean, do you know how turned on I would have been if you had asked me to share our souls with each other over a nice dinner?" Loki raised an eyebrow, looking down at him. "I would have jumped your bones at the table."

Loki snorted, pulling him a little closer. He reached out and pushed their door open and he raised an eyebrow. Nathan was asleep on the loveseat, curled up, Eindride in his arms, but not asleep. Loki slipped away and gently picked up the little boy from Nathan. Tony pushed Nathan's shoulder, waking him up.

"Hey, you've been summoned back to your own bedroom," Tony helped him up as Nathan blinked owlishly.

"Uh... kay... huh?" He frowned a little, trying to think. "Shit, Tony you're back!" He hugged him and Tony snorted, patting his back.

"I am, go, get some sleep in a real bed, kid." Nathan nodded a little and left. Tony closed the door behind him and walked over to Loki. He took a breath and looked at the little boy. "Hello, little boy." Loki smiled and Tony took him from his arms. "I am obviously the cooler one of your dads. It's just better if you accept this fact now. Shit, Loki, this kid is amazing."

Loki sat down on the edge of the bed, watching them. "I think we'll be in trouble if he looks anything like you as he gets older."

"Just like we will be when Emma grows up?" Tony smiled up at Loki before looking back down at the boy in his arms. "We have to remind the children just how hard we have it, being two good looking men. All the men and women we'll have to chase off. The things we do!" Tony laughed and ducked as Loki threw a stuffed animal at him. He walked over and sat down next to him on the bed. "Seeing him makes everything worth it." Loki ran his finger along Eindride's head gently.

There was a soft knock at the door before it opened and the two men were a little surprised to see Frigga walk in. "I thought that the two of you would still be up." She saw the little arms moving in Tony's arms and smiled walking over, leaning over to peer at her newest grandson. "Oh, look at this precious child."

"I'd offer to let you hold him, but I"m being a little selfish right now." Tony grinned even as Loki elbowed his side.

"That's perfectly alright, I've come to ask for some help anyway," Frigga smiled at them. "I think that I have a plan to ease the tension of the past few weeks." 

* * *

"Steeeeeeeven!" Steve pulled the pillow over his head when he heard the voice at his door. "Up and at 'em Cap!" The door swung open but Steve didn't move. The Healers had just let him leave their rooms after three days and he wanted to sleep. "I got you some new clothes."

"Tony, why aren't you sleeping?" Steve mumbled out.

"Well, it's past breakfast, and you have something important to do today." Tony jumped up, landing on the end of the bed, just missing Steve's feet. Probably for the best, he would have kicked him off anyway. "Nana has taken little Anders so I'm not on diaper duty this morning."

"What could be so important that I have to get up for?" Steve turned in the bed lifting the pillow up a little.

"Oh, just a little thing like Odin giving you and Nathan your immortality and right to marry your girls." Tony shrugged as Steve lifted the pillow. "Oh, you didn't hear? Odin has let you two pass your trials, you know after surviving on Jotunheim for almost a week before being held prisoner. I'm tellin ya, mortals sure are making a good name for themselves up here."

"You said something about new clothes?" He noticed that Tony had on his red and gold leather jacket, and black boots.

"Oh, right! Yeah, you gotta look all fancy like, so I helped them give you the right colors." Tony jumped up and held up a garment bag. Steve could see some clothes inside with a blue and white theme to them. "So, up up, time to get dressed and get honored. I'll be back in ten minutes and if you're not out of the bed then I'll let something else wake you up."

"Something else?" Steve watched Tony get up and head for the door. Tony just smirked and closed the door. Steve sighed and pushed himself out of bed, not wanting to take the risk of Tony's threat.

Exactly eleven minutes later, Steve was slipping on the long sleeved jacket when the door opened. "Steve!" He turned around just as something rushed into his legs. He picked up little Emma Rose in gold and green clothes and smiled. "Hi."

"Hey you, it's been a while." He ruffled her hair and she giggled. "Were you sent in here to make sure that I was ready."

"Yup! I already got to jump on Nathan because he wasn't ready." Steve snorted and put her down. "Come on, we don't wanna be late!" He let the four year old pull him out of the room. "I like your outfit better than Nathan's, he's wearing green and brown. I haven't seen Kaia or Gabby yet though." Steve let her ramble on and lead him to the throne room. He saw Thor, Tony, and Nathan waiting outside for him. Thor was grinning and Tony had a little hint of a sneaky smirk on his face. Steve couldn't tell if he was purposely not hiding it or just couldn't help it. Steve wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was glad to see that look still on Tony after recent events.

"It is good to see that you are well!" Thor grinned as he walked over. "Shall we go in?"

"Yes, we don't want to be late," Tony grinned. He put a hand on Nathan's shoulder and pushed him up before taking Emma's hand. Tony and Thor walked in front, with Nathan and Steve behind them. Steve blinked when he saw Gabby up on the steps standing next to Balder, and almost missed a step as he was walking. She wore a white floor length dress with a blue fabric cover over it with beaded detail. Her hair had been pulled up and wrapped in the back.

Kaia was standing next to Loki with her dark hair pulled up, wearing a cream knee length dress with red fabric wrapped around her shoulders and waist. Frigga was holding onto Eindride by Loki, and Emma ran up to stand in front of her. Loki snorted as Tony walked up grinning, shaking his head with a little smile. Thor walked over to stand by Balder and Gabby as Steve and Nathan walked up the steps. Nathan glanced at Steve who only shrugged.

They stopped at the top of the stairs and Odin walked over to them, holding a golden box in his hands. "Steven Rogers, Nathanial Black, both of you have come to take on the Trials of Courage. You've both come willingly, and dutifully. I take no pleasure in the circumstances that surrounded these trials, but without complaint you both acted on instinct and with great care. You both also went beyond any expectations to help those of Asgard."

Odin opened the golden box and pulled out four medallions. He walked over to Steve first, fitting the medallions to the shoulders of his jacket, reminding Steve ranks in the military, it seemed fitting. "Steven Rogers, I grant you immortality and the power of the Gods of Asgard." Steve took a breath as he felt the energy surround him. "I name you god of Bravery and Courage." Steve bowed his head in respect as Odin walked over to Nathan. "Nathanial Black, I grant you immortality and the power of the Gods of Asgard." He placed the medallions on Nathan's upper arms. "I name you god of Ingenuity." Nathan also bowed his head and Odin nodded to the either side of him.

Kaia had taken Loki's arm and he led her over to Nathan, raising just one eyebrow at her and Nathan blinked as he took her hands. She smiled at him and squeezed his hands a little. Balder has taken Gabby's arm and led her over to Steve. She smiled at him then took Steve's hands.

"I take great honor in binding these two couples together, to become part of the Asgardian Courts." Steve raised his eyebrows a little but held Gabby close to him. Loki had gone back over to Tony, an arm on his back. Odin opened the golden box one more time and pulled out two golden cords. When he closed the box it disappeared from his hands. Walking over to Gabby and Steve he started to wrap one of the cords around their entwined hands twice. As he walked over to Nathan and Kaia, Steve watched as different colors of blue energy swirls around the cords, could feel it as he held her hands.

"What would happen if he did that to us?" Tony leaned in to whisper to Loki. "Would it glow like that?" He watched the cord around Nathan and Kaia's hands glow with red and green.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure," Loki answered, shrugging a little. "We've already bound our souls together, which is a much deeper bond than they are going through right now. This ceremony brings together the different energies into one. Ours has already done that." Tony nodded a little leaning against Loki.

"With these cords, your energies have become entwined, as you have chosen to entwine your lives. You have chosen to start a journey that will forever bind you together." Tony started to pay attention again as Odin started talking. "You may kiss your partner." Tony grinned and took advantage of the open invitation and pulled down on Loki's lapel, capturing his lips with his own. Loki blinked caught off guard but returned the kiss.

"I do not think he meant us as well," Loki responded when Tony let go.

"Then he should be a little more specific," he chuckled.

"Now we feast!" Thor declared, grinning.


	16. Chapter 16

**A****/N: Little bit of fluff for ya, and some fun.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony lazily flicked through some pictures down in his lab. Dum-E was rolling around with a broom in its arm, cleaning up its own mess. "Should I be putting together a idea book, or something, for Loki to look through later?"

"I'm afraid that I don't know the proper protocol as a wedding planner, sir," JARVIS spoke up. "Would you like me to ask him?"

"No, don't wake him up," Tony shook his head. "Do people still use Pinterest? Should I go on there? Will you keep my secret?"

"I can neither confirm or deny the answers." Tony scowled a little at the response. "I merely suggested asking Mister Loki because he is no longer asleep." Tony sat up straight and closed the window before spinning around in his chair.

"It's been a while since you've been able to sneak up on me." tony crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Loki standing by the door. "I must be getting rusty."

"Perhaps it's because you haven't slept in three nights, at least." Loki walked over and messed with Tony's hair, trying to smooth down a little a tiny cowlick. "How long ago was it that we were down here?"

"You mean the first we actually talked to each other about stuff? Stuff that wasn't yelling at you for making my furniture disappear?" Tony smiled a little. "About 20 years ago, last month actually."

"I think we need to possibly try that again." Tony made a face and Loki pinched his cheek a little. "I just put Eindride back to sleep so I'm not going back to bed for a while." Loki pushed aside some of the papers on Tony's desk and lifted himself up, turning to look at him. "Tell me what keeps you up at night."

Tony ran his hand through his hair a little. "What are the chances of me getting out of this?"

"Not very high."

"Any chance I could distract you with wedding stuff?" Loki just shook his head.

Loki reached over and gently carded his fingers through Tony's hair, rubbing at his temple a little to try and relax him. "Does it have to do with Lanhr?" He asked quietly. "The last time you were up this long from nightmares was-"

"After you attacked, yeah," Tony finished.

"And against my better judgement I let you talk me into going with Thor on some inter-realm mission, or some such nonsense." He started to mess with the shorter hairs at the side of Tony's hair. "I come back only to be informed that you had been kidnapped, the Malibu house almost destroyed, and had built 35 more suits, then destroyed them all. And the only reason that you survived that was because I spelled you to get some sleep before I left." He put both hands on Tony's cheeks. "Let me help you again, love.'

"I must look bad if you're using pet names." Tony leaned his cheek against one of Loki's hands. "I need to keep moving, keep thinking, keep doing, because if I don't then I'm back there. I'm back with him, and he's," Tony moved his hands around his chest, "doing whatever. And that's all I can feel. It was like he was able to get inside, and it hurt, fuck did it hurt. I was afraid that if he did too much, well, that you..."

"Wouldn't be able to find you," Loki finished quietly, resting one of his hands along the side of Tony's neck. "I would tear down the Universe to find you, you know that." Tony nodded a little, taking a breath. "I,... I know what it's like. I first dealt with the Fae when I was younger. I was not as fortunate to have someone looking for you like you did, but I also wasn't a key piece of a detailed plan." He kissed Tony's forehead. "I would have to come to find you sooner..."

Tony raised his hand to place it over Loki's on his cheek still. "I know i don't have to say it, but I'm going to. "You don't have to talk about it yet if you don't want. You still have another week before you can no longer use that excuse."

"Even thought I did not give that option?" Loki raised an eyebrow at him.

"There's a difference. You know what I went through, you were there, you found out." Tony rubbed his fingers.

"You know that I went with Balder to Jotunheim to find Nathan and Steve." Tony nodded watching him. "It was not long after that we were captured. Another of Jotho and Lanhr's plans. I do not think that they were prepared to see me as one of them, or else they probably would have killed us on sight. But they did not easily forget that I had been the one to kill their King." Loki snorted air through his nose a little. "They were surprisingly careful when Eindride was born, but they took him immediately after he was born. I could hear him crying everyday, I knew that he was alone. They kept my powers drugged, and I could do nothing to save him, nothing to help him. They were going to take him from us, eventually killing me when they tired of torturing me."

Tony had gotten up from his chair and stood in front of Loki, resting his forehead against Loki's. "He's with us now, he's safe. He's home and where he belongs. No one will take our son, not again." He put his hand on the back of Loki's neck, holding him close. "We have our children with us, we may not win Parents of the year, ever, but we're raising them the best we can. We're protecting them, neither one of us would hesitate a second to put our life on the line for them, to even kill for them. Hell, we Have done that before, and we have no regrets." Tony closed his eyes as he held onto Loki. "We're messed up, but we're doing the best that we can, and they seem happy to me." Loki nodded a little against his head.

Kaia has been sitting on the steps with Emma in her lap as they watched Tony and Loki talk. JARVIS had started to pipe the conversation through to them at some point. Emma looked up at her older sister and took her hand. They both got up and walked into the lab silently as Tony finished talking to Loki.

"We are happy." The two men jumped a little when Emma spoke up. "And Anders will happy as he gets older too."

Kaia kept her hands on Emma's shoulders as she looked at her parents. "He'll see just how lucky he is to have you two as parents. I, for one, could never imagine having any other parents. You don't win parents of the year, you win Parents of the universe." Emma ran over and pulled herself up in Tony's chair and Loki reached out to take her in his lap. Tony wrapped an arm around Kaia's shoulders as she walked over.

"There is a rule, if you are going to stay down here," Loki said as he rested his head on top of Emma's.

"When it's emotional sharing time, whatever happens in the workshop, stays in the workshop," Tony finished. "That usually means that Dad is going to shed some tears- OW!" Tony hopped a little when Loki kicked his knee. "Now I think I'm gonna shed some tears, ow, that really hurt."

"Good." Loki snorted a little and Emma giggled, tucking herself into Loki's arms, leaning against his chest. "What are you doing up so late, tiny one?"

"I couldn't sleep, and then your room was empty," Emma told them. "And then I saw Kaia in the kitchen, and then we came down here."

Tony glanced at Kaia. "I had a feeling," she shrugged a little. "She wanted to ask you something anyway, since we were all up."

"Hmm?" Tony pulled over another chair for Kaia. "What's that, Flower?"

"Welllllllll," Emma pulled the word out. "I was looking and Nathan helped me, and Steve said it would be a good idea-"

"Steve?" Tony questioned but Kaia shushed him.

"Can we get a dog? I want a puppy..." She turned her best large and innocent eyed stare at Tony and he instantly pointed to Loki. Emma looked up, pushing her bottom lip out a little. "Please, daddy? I promise to learn how to take care of it, so that when I'm older I can do it all by myself. And I even thought about how little Anders is, so I already know what kind of dog that I want."

"Nathan helped?" Tony looked at Kaia.

"Apparently he likes to watch the big dog show every year, he was surprisingly knowledgeable." Kaia shrugged a little.

"I found a breed that's loyal, and is like a guard dog, but if trained will be really nice," Emma continued. "And we found videos of dogs being really nice with babies, so it won't be too rough with our little brother."

"Wow, this is a lot off research for such a little girl," Tony said as he watched her go on.

"I even found a puppy for sale! And it's only a few miles away!" Emma nodded enthusiastically.

"It's about 30 miles, actually," Kaia chuckled as she corrected them. Emma was still learning the difference between big and small numbers, and how that translated into distance.

Loki licked his lips a little, looking down at the girl in his lap. "You know that a dog is a lot of work, right?" Emma nodded right away. "That it will need training, and you'll need to walk it and keep it fed, and clean up after it." She kept nodding and Loki looked at their oldest. "Is it a safe breed to have around a new born?"

Kaia nodded. "I did all the research with her, and it can be a fiercely loyal breed. It's a good family dog, and even good as a guard dog. I'm sure that will make both of you feel a little more at ease." She smiled at them. "Nathan and I will even take her out to get the puppy."

"My only rule is that it would need to be 100% trained in every way before it even looks at my workshop," Tony said as he shrugged, looking at Loki. "It might be good. A constant companion for the little ones, a little guard that we don't have to pay, and it'll help teach responsibility." Tony blinked for a second. "Maybe someone should have bought me a dog when I was younger." All three snorted at him.

"Well, tomorrow is Saturday, and if a certain little girl goes back to sleep now, then I will give my permission for a trip to obtain a new puppy." Emma squealed and leaned up,w rapping her arms around Loki's neck and kissing him all over the face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She turned and scrambled off of his lap then jumped in Tony's. He laughed as the forced pushed them back on the wheels a little. She kissed his face too before running back upstairs to her room.

"She's never going to get to sleep now, she's too excited," Kaia said as she watched her sister run off.

"She'll make herself go to sleep, don't worry." Tony chuckled. "You used to do that on Christmas Eve. We'd tell you that Santa would only come once you were asleep, and i swore up and down that you would never get to sleep, you were too excited to open presents." Loki smiled softly as Tony spoke. "But, half an hour later I would go into your room and you were fast asleep, goat in your arms, mouth open as you made tiny snoring sounds. Damn you were cute back then. What happened?" He laughed and held his arm when she mock punched him.

Kaia stretched her arms and yawned a little. "Well, I'm gonna go back to bed now, specially since I have to take a trip out to the country." She smiled as she got up. She walked over and kissed Loki's cheek, and did the same to Tony. Tony rubbed her cheek a little and smiled. "You both know that no matter what happens, you two will always be the best to us, right? When I think back to when I was younger, all the moments with you two stand out, not the times when all the crazy shit would happen. And I know that Emma adores you two. We may be, at times, a dysfunctional family, not normal, but it's the only life that we'd ever want." She smiled and headed for the door. "By the way, she wants to name the puppy Fenrir." Kaia pulled the door closed and disappeared up the stairs.

Loki had blinked, watching her head up the stairs. Tony walked over and ran his thumb under one of Loki's eyes, wiping away a tear. "How the fuck did we get so lucky, hm?"

"I'm still trying to figure that one out," Loki responded, taking a deep breath, and smiled at Tony. "I think I'll enjoy the ride as I continue to wait for the answer."


	17. Chapter 17

**A****/N: Little bit of fluff for ya, and some fun.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"She used my name first?" Nathan looked at Gabby as they stood by the entrance to the dog area. Kaia was holding onto his arm, watching Emma with one of the owners as they looked at the puppies that were up for sale. "They're going to kill me, when they see what dog they said yes too, they're going to kill me."

"They're not going to kill you, stop being so dramatic." She pat his cheek a little and pulled his scarf up over his nose. She was glad that for the second week of December there wasn't much snow on the ground. It would come, she was sure, but at least today she didn't have to worry about trudging around in a foot of snow. "They're the ones who agreed without even asking what kind of dog she wanted." Nathan just groaned a little.

"Tony at least gave you his credit card to buy the supplies and food with, right?" Kaia rolled her eyes a little and nodded. "Good, that way we can spoil the kid and the dog." He grinned and Kaia laughed.

"Now Dad might kill you," she chuckled. Kaia and Nathan had gone with the husband to see the parents of the puppies that Emma would be looking through and to fill out the paperwork and payment. When they saw the size of the parents Nathan started freaking out about Tony and Loki. Alaskan Malamutes could be a little bigger than the pictures he saw online. Specially when they were Giant Malamutes. Nathan was a few inches taller than Tony, and the father stood a little bit taller than his hip. The husband had the dog stand on two legs and he was able to put his front paws on Nathan's shoulders and not have to reach. Giant might have been an understatement.

Emma and the wife had gone out to look at the puppies and it seemed that they were down to just two puppies. "She's hoping to find a boy puppy, so she can name him Fenrir."

"And if it's a girl?" Nathan asked. The choice was down to a mostly white puppy and a white and red one.

"Fenrir," Kaia laughed. "She's really attached to that name, but I don't think Dad will care."

"Oh, I wonder why." Nathan snorted. He reached into his picket and pulled out the leash and collar they had picked up on their way out. They let Emma pick it and she had of course picked up a matching green set, with gold grommets and hooks. Loki's little clone indeed. They watched as Emma grinned and tried to pick up the red puppy. The wife chuckled and picked up the puppy for her and they head back over to Nathan and Kaia.

"I picked that one!" She grinned up at them. "Isn't she great?"

"Good choice, sis," Kaia smiled at her. "Did you tell Mrs Winchester what you were going to name her?"

Emma grinned and turned back to the woman as Nathan put the collar and leash on the puppy. "I'm naming her Fenrir, like the great Norse wolf. And her nickname will be Fen." She grinned as Nathan handed her the leash and she started to scratch behind the dogs ear. "And I'm going to help train her, and walk her, and brush her."

"Well, it sounds like she's going to be in good hands then, Emma." The woman smiled at her, then looked back up at Nathan and Kaia. "My husband went over everything with you?" They both nodded. "Great, then I'll just run up and get the vet information for Fenrir, and you'll be all set to go."

"And we'll get you a nice doggy bed, and some toys, and some food." Emma continued to talk to the puppy and Kaia smiled.

"Okay, if they see this, then they won't kill me." Nathan said, smiling.

"Dad! We're back!" Kaia called as they stepped off the elevator, a couple of bags in her hands, Emma following with the new addition on her leash. Nathan was getting a cart to haul the food and bigger items over to the elevator.

"In the living room!" Tony called out. Emma grinned and ran over, the excited puppy following right at her feet. "Oh my god!" Tony had jumped in Loki's lap when he saw the dog. "That's not a puppy, that's a giant ball of fluff and fur! It's Huge!"

"Her name's Fenrir." Emma grinned. "She's two months old."

"That's two months?" Loki had raised his eyebrows. "It's look almost full size compared to other Midgardian canines."

"Ah, yes well, about that," Kaia said as she walked into the room. "This is a Giant Alaskan Malamute."

"Giant?" Tony eyed his older daughter. "No one said anything about Giant. She's going to kill us in our sleep, I know it. And the worst part is it'll be an adorable, fuzzy, accident!" He looked over when he heard Emma giggling. She had grabbed one of the new toys from the bag was playing tug of war with the puppy.

"She's really excited about it," Kaia smiled at them. "And I'll tell you, that dog slept in her lap in the car on the way back from the breeders. There's something about this dog, it never left Emma's side, never pulled too hard on the leash or anything." Loki had only one eyebrow raised as he watched Emma and listened to Kaia. "I mean, this dog is still young and hasn't had much training. Just some basics and some potty training."

"Thank god for that one," Tony muttered. Loki hummed a little and thought and Tony looked at him. "What was that for?"

"I don't think that there's something with the dog," Loki said, never taking his eyes from Emma. "I think it's Emma. I believe, that she may be, hmmm, what's the term," he paused thinking about it. "An animal whisperer?"

Tony blinked slowly a couple of time and looked back over at Emma. he seemed to sigh and lean against Loki's chest, still in his lap. "Yeah, that would just be par for the course. Not even surprised anymore."

"At least this will make training a whole lot easier," Kaia offered.

"If I wasn't able to communicate with some animals myself," Loki threw out casually. Tony and Kaia stared at him. "Well, I haven't actually tried it on any animals here, I've had no need to try."

"We have been living together for 20 years, and I never knew this." Tony tilted his head a little.

"You never had any pets," Loki retaliated, smiling. Loki pushed Tony back onto the couch when the baby monitor reacted, Eindride starting to wake up from his nap. "Although I do communicate quite well with you." He smirked at Tony as he sauntered out of the room. "Emma, would you like to introduce Eindride to Fenrir?" Emma grinned and jumped up and Fenrir followed her.

"I'll be damned, a pet whisperer in the house," Tony snorted a little as he fell on his back on the couch, stretching out his arm and legs. "Does this mean I have to work the dog into the wedding?" He frowned a little.

"Just asked uncle Phil to watch him," Kaia suggested. "I'm sure Emma can tell her to behave." She sat down next to his head on the couch. "Hey Dad? Did you show Dad the picture of my wedding dress yet?"

Tony raised and eyebrow but shook his head. "Not yet, haven't really had a lot of time to do it."

"Good, don't show him, okay?" Now Tony was really curious. "I want him to be as surprised at Nathan when I get married. I want to pull a public emotion from him." She smiled and Tony wiped a fake tear away from his face.

"My little girl is all grown up, and plotting against her father. I'm so proud!" He started to fake sob in her shirt and she laughed, trying to push him away.

"Dad! Get off of me!" She dissolved into giggled when Tony grabbed her and found her ticklish spots. "No! Stop! Eeeeeee!" She wiggled around and Tony grinned as he held onto her. For one brief moment she had become a little girl again, and they weren't talking about her very grown up wedding. Maybe having the dog as a companion around the condo when Emma was at school would be good for Tony too.


	18. Chapter 18

**A****/N: Christmas fun!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"I don't know much that could be worse, planning wise, than a wedding and Christmas shopping," Tony grumbled as he walked next to Loki, Fenrir's leash in one hand, car seat in the other, Eindride in Loki's arms

"Perhaps if you wouldn't wait three days for the holiday it wouldn't seem so horrible," Loki commented as they made their way through the throngs of people. It could have been worse, but he had managed to get Tony to wake up early so it wouldn't be too crowded. Tony whined a little and Loki looked over at him.

"Well, I think it's time to get something to eat and then get home, I think I've mingled and swiped my card enough today," Tony concluded. He had managed to order some place settings for their reception while they were out, so he wouldn't count the whole morning as a waste. He had of course done it when Loki wasn't around, he still wanted to surprise him with most of the wedding stuff. Like their daughter, he wanted to pull out an emotional response from Loki as well.

Loki looked at Eindride, mostly just a visible pair of eyes in his layers to keep warm. "Yes, I do believe that it is time for his lunch as well. i think he would be happy to get out of all these clothes."

"Hmmm, I'm starting to feel jealous of my own children," Tony mumbled. "I'm cold as balls, but the rest of you would only have to wear a spring jacket." Loki just smirked a little. "I won't deny that I do enjoy bundling them up to the point of no movement though. It's my own personal payback."

"I'm sorry that I made this man your father," Loki said looking at the little boy. "I was unaware at the time that he would resort to such tortures." Tony snorted.

"Oh, wait, I got this. But worry not my son, as you grow older you will be able to start planning your revenge." Tony waved his hand around as they walked into a diner. "I warn you though, your mission will not be so easy, for I will not grow old for a long time, and the minute you try to put me into a home I will rebel! Much like you will when you reach your teen years." Tony grinned as they sat down in a booth and Loki groaned, even Fenrir put a paw over her nose.

Loki sighed as he took the scarf and jacket off of the little boy, laying Eindride in the car seat next to him. "Again, I apologize, and I pray that you will pick up his habit for the dramatics."

"That would be his best trait," Tony grinned. "Stop trying to deny the kid his best genetic rights."

"Why has no one tried to take those kids away from you yet?" They looked over as Clint slid into the booth next to Tony. "A megalomaniac and an evil genius should not make a competent couple."

"Hey, why am I the megalomaniac?" Tony frowned.

"Barton, are you trying to get on my good side?" Loki just smirked as Eindride kicked his little booted feet. "Recognizing my best features is a good way to start."

"Why is our fearless Agent doing out so close to Christmas? Do bad guys take the holidays off?" Tony asked as a waitress brought over three glasses of water. Tony handed the diaper bag over to Loki and he took out a pre-made bottle.

"No, but I do," Clint shrugged as he leaned back in the booth. "What about you two? I would have thought that you'd get all your shopping done online, or something."

"No, lately he likes to do the shopping himself, but that doesn't stop him from procrastinating," Loki informed him.

"You went out to do all of your shopping the week of?" Clint looked at Tony. "You might actually be crazier than I thought."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Tony waved him off. "Watch out or I'll send my attack dog after you." Clint glanced down at Fenrir who was laying down under the table with her head on her paws. "Don't be fooled by her pleasant demeanor, she's vicious." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Maybe next time we'll take her instead of you on a mission." Clint smirked and sipped his water. 

* * *

Steve smiled as he felt the bed dip next to him, and he wrapped his arm around Gabby's waist pulling her closer. "Is it morning?" He asked sleepily.

"Mmm hmm," she smiled, humming against his neck. "Merry Christmas." She started to rub his shoulders. "Do you remember four weeks ago? When we were in Asgard?"

"An impromptu wedding courtesy of the Queen of Asgard?" He chuckled and nodded. "I remember."

"And you remember that night?" She smirked a little when Steve nodded again. "Oh good. Well, I just want to let you know that this is our last Christmas together. Alone, at least." Steve cracked one eye open to look at her. "And we're going to be buying more presents next year. And I'm going to be having a few more dress fittings right up until the wedding, and-"

"Gabby?" He turned on his back to look at her fully. She bit her lip a little, still smiling.

"I know that time moves a little fast on Asgard, and we were there for a week, then we came back here, but I got something in the mail yesterday and-" Steve put a finger on her lips to stop her rambling.

"Are trying to tell me something important?" She nodded. "Life changing?" She nodded again. "Gabby, are you trying to tell me that you're pregnant?"

"Merry Christmas?" She squeaked and laughed when Steve suddenly sat up and swung her to her feet on the floor. He grabbed her face and kissed her. "So, you like your present then?" Gabby wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "Good thing I finished school."

"Is that where you were last week?" He was grinning, his hands rubbing her neck. "At the Doctor's?"

"Getting a blood test, just to make sure," she nodded. "And I got the results in the mail yesterday, but you were out late, so I thought I would give you a Christmas present."

"I love you so much," he kissed her and leaned his head against hers. Gabby took one of his hands and put it on her stomach and he grinned. "I love you both."

"We love you more, and we promise not to make you too crazy." Steve snorted, still smiling. "Do you want to tell my Dad, or should I?" Steve paused and looked at her and she snorted. "I'll reward you with letting you go with me to the food taste test after the New Year. It'll be good."

"Trying to spoil me before I spoil you?" Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and started to sway with her.

"Let's hope that you don't called away on Avengers business during the tastings."

"Why's that?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm not saving any food for you." She grinned. 

* * *

Tony cackled evilly as he came out of Eindride's room holding the wiggling baby. Loki stared at the little green elf hat on his sons head and considering for a second incinerating it. "What have you done to him?"

"I have gotten him into the holiday spirit!" Tony proclaimed. Eindride lifted his arms a little when he saw Loki, probably hoping to be saved. "When the others come they will see that we have the best looking child any time of the year, and we will have won."

"Won what?" Loki frowned trying to take his son, but Tony kept moving out of the way.

"The game of course!" Loki just kept frowning. After 20 years he still didn't understand Tony sometimes. At least it still made life interesting. "JARVIS told me that Steve and Gabby were on their way up, and Kaia and Nathan should be right behind them."

"Aunt Pepper and Uncle Phil will be back by New Years," Gabby said as the elevator door opened and her and Steve walked in, Steve carrying a couple big bags full of presents. "And we found someone else behind us." Bruce waved as he had a bag in his hand too.

"Yay!" Tony bounced Eindride a little and he looked over at Loki.

"I cannot save my son, I am sorry," Loki lamented.

"Tony, what have you put on that child?" Bruce asked as he came over and took the helpless boy from Tony. He pulled the hat off and Eindride squealed.

"Well, he Was awesome looking," Tony pouted.

"We're not going-" Steve looked at Gabby and she shook her head.

"No, no we will not be doing that."

"Doing what?" Tony leaned in, very curious. "Is there gossip? Does Pepper know?"

"No, no one knows yet," she said as she pushed Tony away. "And I know who I'm telling first, right after Dad."

"Hmm, must be serious if the Dad gets to hear it first." Tony turned his attention to Steve. "What is it Cap? You can tell me."

Steve shook his head. "Not telling you yet, Tony."

"Remember how annoyed I made you on the Hellicarrier?" Steve eyed Tony carefully. "We were about to rip each others heads off..."

"No, Tony, I'm not telling you." Tony snapped.

"You people are no fun."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that we're here." Tony turned as Balder and Thor walked in. "Hello darling." Balder grinned as Gabby went over to hug him. She pulled down on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He grinned and picked her up spinning her. "This is wonderful news!"

"Wait, I don't even get to hear it outloud?" Tony watched as Gabby went over to Loki and and whispered to him. Loki started to laugh and nod, and that really made Tony curious now. "Whaaaaaaat?"

"She asked me if I wanted another niece or nephew," Loki smiled as Gabby grinned at Tony. "Dear, she's pregnant."

Tony whipped his head back to look at Steve, who was grinning now, then back to Loki. "I warned you, the invasion has begun!" Loki snorted and threw a kitchen towel at his head, covering his face.


	19. Chapter 19

**A****/N: Wedding #1**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Now, just remember," Tony looked at Rhodey as he held Eindride, "if he cries then Loki will of course blame you."

"Thanks Tony," Rhodey snorted and shook his head as he bounced the three month old in his arm. "I've held a baby before, and this little guy and I will get along just fine." Eindride blinked a little, chewing on a big plastic ring.

"The best man and the ring bearer, how adorable." Pepper snapped a picture of the two of them.

"And my Matron of Honor," Tony grinned wrapping an arm around her. "I feel like I should be on my best behavior or else I'll see these pictures tomorrow night."

"Oh, I don't need anymore pictures for that," she grinned. "The address for the press will be released to them in a couple of hours, after rehearsal is over, so by then we should all be out of here."

Tony nodded and blinked when something grabbed onto the back of his legs. He heard Pepper bite back a coo as he turned to see Emma holding onto his leg, in her gold flower girl dress. "Hey, Flower, did you get your dress?"

"Yup! Kaia helped me!" She giggled and Tony heard Pepper taking more pictures. "Hi Uncle Rhodey!"

"Hey, pupcake." He grinned at her.

"Why don't you go show Dad your dress?" Tony picked her up, giving her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "He has Fenrir." She nodded and started to hop off into the main hall where Loki, Thor and Balder were.

"I'm gonna go get pictures of this," Pepper grinned.

"I'll come with you," Rhodey offered his arm, still holding Eindride. Tony watched them go then looked around the receiving area. He smiled when a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind.

"Getting nervous?" He kissed Kaia's arm and turned around.

"Me? I'm Tony Stark, I don't get nervous," he said as he started to dance with her.

"No, you have total freakouts," she smiled at him. "So I have a question to ask, about tomorrow." Tony hummed, nodding. "I was talking with Dad about it, too. I heard that you two talked about who was going to walk me down the aisle at my wedding, and no, he won't tell me who won, but it got me thinking. Daddy," she took his hands, "will you let me give you away at your wedding?" She grinned when she knew that she had caught him off guard.

"You want to give me away?" Kaia nodded, swinging his arms back and forth, like she used to do when she was little. Tony kissed her cheek and smiled. "I don't think there's anyone more suited for the job, baby." 

* * *

Tony licked his lips and peeked through the edge of the door as Pepper walked into the hall with Emma. She was throwing red flower petals on the ground, making sure that covered everything. Pepper walked behind her in a floor length chiffon gown with a fitted bodice and one shoulder strap. He looked over and saw Rhodey holding onto Eindride who was in was in a little black tux with a green undershirt, while Rhodey wore black tux pants, and a green jacket over a white shirt and gold tie. Rhodey and Tony had had a staring contest after the big reveal.

Looking up he could see Loki in a black high neck tuxedo with a green tie that Tony had picked out. "What Are you wearing?" Tony turned and smiled at Kaia. He took her hands and turned her, letting her knee length gold dress flare out a little.

"Nothing as good looking as you, obviously." He kissed her cheek. Kaia reached out to adjust his golden tie that matched his pants, and looked him up and down. He wore his Chucks to match his brown double breasted waistcoat, and pulled his wool green jacket up a little. "I just wanted something a little different."

"I think I would have been shocked if you had looked normal." She took his arm and smiled. "Nervous yet?"

"I am so past nervous," he chuckled a little. "I mean, it's just a big party right? We've been together for two decades, and we've got three kids, and we're even bonded on a soul level. I became a God for him, but why do I feel like this is one of the biggest moments in my life?"

"Because it is," she chuckled. "Yes, you've done all those things, and I'm sure there will be more moments to come, but this is different. Those things you've done in the privacy of your own lives, for the most part. This is a public declaration, and the Starks don't do anything small, you are shouting from the rooftops that you're going to be with this crazy man for the rest of your lives, and you're going to throw a party for everyone else to see it happen.'

"Could you stop being so smart?" Tony squeezed her hand. "I'm trying not to feel like the woman in this wedding, and if you make me cry that won't happen." Kaia laughed and kissed his cheek.

"Come on, Daddy, time to get your megaphone out." Tony looked and hadn't even noticed when Rhodey had walked into the hall with his son. He grinned a little when he heard the small orchestra playing 'Shoot to Thrill.'

"This is our song, you know I at him for the first time to this song." Kaia snorted and grinned and started him walking. "He must have picked this out."

"This family has a wicked sense of humor," Kaia mumbled.

"Yes, we do sweetheart." 

* * *

"You want to know what the best part of this reception is?" Tony had turned in his chair, leaning his back against Loki's arm as he sipped champagne.

"The food or the drinks?" Loki smirked a little.

"Neither, the fact that we don't have to watch our kids," Tony laughed. Their friends and family were taking turns gushing over Eindride, and Tony knew that he was keeping a close eye on him, and Emma was busy being a social butterfly. "All we have to do is make a quick visit to Eindride when it's been too long and he's happy. Eventually he'll go down for a nap-"

"Which Thor has offered to watch him for," Loki threw in.

"And Emma will soon follow." Tony clinked their glasses together. "Want to go see the cake before they bring it out?"

"Is it the same wonderfully eye pleasing color scheme you picked for our nuptials?" Loki smiled, leaning over to kiss him gently. Tony was pleased that Loki was very much into the public displays of emotions at their wedding.

"I think that you are going to Love it." He put his glass down then got up and grabbed Loki's hands. He led him around the back tables and through the bar trying not to be stopped by anyone. They went through the kitchen and headed for the side door.

"Was there a reason for taking this obscure way?" Loki raised an eyebrow then blinked when Tony pushed him up against the kitchen door, kissing him, rubbing the back of Loki's neck.

"Just an excuse to steal a kiss away from everyone." He grinned and opened the door. He pulled Loki through and they came out the back way to the cake. It was a three tier green cake with golden details that remind Loki of Asgard and New York at the same time. "Everyone is getting food, and soon we'll cut this, then dancing, and blah blah blah," he rolled his hand a little as he spoke. "Then we let your brother take the kids back to the Tower, and we are that much closer to getting a week, just to ourselves." Tony ran his hands up Loki's chest and Loki leaned forward, catching his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Stop teasing when there is still much to do with this reception," Loki growled against Tony's lips, smirking.

"Daaaaaaad," Emma hopped over, holding onto a little wooden box. "One of the elves gave this to me to give right to you." Loki raised an eyebrow looking at Tony, who only shrugged. "Well, what's inside?"

Loki opened the box and a small magenta butterfly flew out, leaving a trail of sparkles in the air. Both men tensed a little as Emma watched the butterfly with interest. Loki's head turned and he swore he caught a smirk as someone left. The butterfly had disappeared and Tony looked at Loki, protectively placing a hand on Emma's shoulder.

"It's fine," he said quietly, burning the box to ashes and wiping his hands, the ashes disappearing.

"I'll put JARVIS on to do 30 second sweeps, just in case." Tony rubbed Emma's shoulder and watched as she ran off to play with Jak's kids, sticking close to Gabby and her brothers. "You killed him, I saw you," Tony whispered, stepping closer to Loki as he looked around and saw that Eindride had fallen asleep in Pepper's arms, his face towards Tony and Loki, making sure he could see them before he fell asleep.

"That's why I'm not concerned. most likely one of his followers, just trying to start a bit of chaos," Loki took Tony's hand, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb. "It's fine." Why didn't they feel fine, then?


	20. Chapter 20

**A****/N: Wedding #2! Also I took some creative liberties with Steve's outfit outside of regular traditions.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony buttoned his jacket as they got out of he car and headed up to the church. They didn't even notice the flashes from the press, still being used to it from their own wedding two days was holding Eindride and watched Emma slide out of the car and take Tony's hand. Some of the bystanders let out coo's and aww's and Tony grinned at Loki who just rolled his eyes with a smile.

"You're gonna sit with Dad and Aunt Pepper-" Tony looked down at Emma as they head up the stairs.

"Cause you have to stand with Steve," she nodded, remembering the practice from the day before. "And I'm flower girl with Rayn." Jak's little girl would be the other flow girl and his son would be the ring bearer.

"Now hopefully those little twin menaces aren't here yet, and I can get to the room without being jumped." Tony smiled, then saw Loki looking behind him.

"We're not little anymore." A hand was on each of Tony's shoulders suddenly and he sighed.

"Jak, Markus, don't you two have like, wives to see, kids to attend to?" Tony didn't turn, waiting for the inevitable.

"Already set," Jak grinned from behind, his twin giving a matching one. "We're ready to be groomsmen with our favorite Uncle." Tony groaned a little.

"You mind if we take him, Uncle Loki?" Markus looked over.

Loki smiled at Tony and bowed his head a little. "By all means, I'm done with him for now." The two men picked Tony up and started walking down the hall.

"Traitor! Marriage is supposed to be about sticking together!" Tony yelled as he was carried off.

"We haven't had the honeymoon yet!" Loki snorted and took Emma's hand. "Let's go see Gabby, shall we?" 

* * *

Balder was waiting outside the door where Gabby was changing. He had a black box in his hands and seemed to be fiddling with it. He looked up when he saw Loki coming towards him with the kids.

"You look nervous," Loki commented. He eyed the box and Balder smiled a little.

"Very much so, the boys were easy. This is my only little girl." He pat the box a little. "I'm glad you came, I didn't want to go in there alone, didn't want to trip over my words."

"The irony of your statement is not lost of Silvertogue," Loki smirked a little. "Emma, knock then open the door when they tell you too." She nodded and walked over and knocked on the door three times, as loud as she could. They heard Pepper inside and the little girl reached up and turned the handle pushing the door open.

Kaia and Pepper had on their blue pleated, one strap dresses, and Loki raised an eyebrow at the shoes. They were a blue pump with an ankle strap, and a peacock feather on the side.

"Hey little squirt," Kaia grinned and picked up Emma and Pepper instantly reached out for Eindride. Loki snorted but obliged and her let her oggle his son. "Gabby, you have visitors." A side door opened a little and Gabby walked out, smiling.

Both Balder and Loki watched her and blinked. Her lace dress fit her perfectly, tailored just right to her figure, the small train behind her as she held up the front, still barefoot. Her hair had been pulled back and around in a bun, highlights prominent in the style. balder moved first and wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug immediately.

"My beautiful girl." He kissed the side of her head. "You are a vision." He took a breath and pulled back then remembered the box in his hand. "I have something for you. He opened it and pulled out a round hairpin, black with blue stones set into it to look like a flower. "I remember the old rhyme, the something old, new, borrowed, blue, and all that. Your mother obsessed about it for weeks before we got married. This is something old and borrowed." Balder walked around and placed the hairpin in her hair in the middle, securing it without messing up her hair. The girls were impressed. "My mother gave it to me for you to wear today, she got it from her mother on Vanaheim."

"Dad," Gabby said quietly, smiling, and trying not to cry. "You're going to make me ruin my makeup." She chuckled a little when Balder stood in front of her again.

"One more thing. It's something blue, not that there isn't enough blue in this wedding already but," he shrugged a little and pulled something else out of the box and put it down on a table. He let it dangle a little, showing a necklace. It had a blue tear drop gem hanging from some flowers on part of the chain.

"It's beautiful," Gabby said as her thumb brushed over the flowers. Balder put it around her neck, attaching the clasp.

Kaia leaned her head over a little to look at Loki. "Are you-" He put his hand up in her direction and made a short hissing noise. She bit her lip and leaned back, knowing that she saw Loki's eyes tearing up a little.

"It was your mother's," Balder said as he finished, resting his hands on her arms a little. He looked at her and smiled. "You look just like her, such a stunning young woman." Gabby teared up and hugged him tightly.

Emma looked around at everyone in the room. "Are these the happy tears again? The ones that Daddy told me about?" Kaia nodded, dabbing at her eyes a little. "Oh, okay. I won't be worried then." Kaia snorted and chuckled holding onto her little sister.

"Oh!" Gabby stepped back after a second, Balder pulling out a tissue to wipe at her tears. "I have to show you the something new." She walked over to a shoe box on a chair and opened it, pulling out a pair of heels. "Aunt Pepper found these."

"How could I say no?" Pepper grinned. The shoes had been white but someone had taken images and printed them on the shoes. Images from Captain America comics, cards, and advertisements from the 40's.

"Please, please, don't forget to show Tony." Loki grinned. 

* * *

Tony had given in to his fate and let the boys carry him off to where Steve was. He practically thrown into a chair and he 'omphed'. "We have retrieved the best man." The boys spoke together and saluted. Tony snorted and pushed himself back to his feet.

"You knew they were going to do something like that, didn't you?" Tony straightened his tux and heard Steve chuckle. He looked up and nodded when he saw Steve. He was wearing his brown army dress uniform and was just putting on his tie, the jacket laying over the back of the chair. "Mr Rogers, I do declare." Steve rolled his eyes, but was smiling.

"You don't think that it's too informal?" He turned back to look in the mirror as he went back to his tie. Tony made a motion and Steve turned back to him, letting Tony do it.

"Please, you're that man in the uniform that women drop their panties for." He grinned at Steve's face. "Plus, I like the old school look. The formal uniforms they have today for the army just wouldn't look right, not to me at least. You'll look good next to Gabby, I've seen the dress," he smiled.

"Yeah, I heard about you going with them," Steve smirked a little. "If I hadn't heard rumors of your extensive closet, i would have questioned your fashion advice."

"Ha ha, very funny, coming from the guy who got his wedding band to match his wife's." Tony finished the tie and nodded. "Nervous?"

"Very," Steve nodded as he grabbed his jacket.

"Think of it this way, you already got married once up in Asgard, and you have a little one on the way-"

"Ones," Steve corrected as he buttoned his jacket.

"What?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Ones, plural. Two." Steve looked up at him, smiling. "Twins."

"Oh sweet mother of mercy," Tony sat sat down, dramatically draping his arm over his head.

"It's a high possibility of having twins if there are other twins in the family." Steve motioned towards Jak and Markus, who were busy talking about something else. "I went with her to one of her appointments and there were two. We even heard their little heartbeats."

"Oh my god, you are going to be a perfect little family, look at the way you're gushing over the heartbeats!" Tony was grinning though, knowing full well that he had done the same thing for each of his kids. "Good job, Rogers. Now with twins on the way, getting married should be nothing. When are they due by the way?"

"July."

"I swear, if they're born on the 4th, I'm done with you." Steve snorted and smoothed out his sleeves. "Now you just need a house with a white picket fence, and some kind of pet."

"We are going to have to look for a new place, it's true, we're just not sure where yet." Steve shrugged. "We have a little bit of time." There was a knock on the door and one of the church staff leaned in.

"We're getting ready." Steve nodded and took a breath as he left.

"Steve," Tony walked over, and put an arm across his shoulders. "If I can go and get married to someone we wanted to kill once, then this will be a piece of cake. Honestly though, I could imagine my niece walking down the aisle to a better guy, even if we do wanna knock each other sometimes. I don't even feel the need to tell you that if you hurt her I'll hurt you."

"Thanks, Tony." Steve nodded. 

* * *

Steve was rubbing Gabby's hand, his other arm around her waist, as they drove from the church to the reception. Everyone else was there as the photographer got pictures of the couple at the church. "I can't believe shoes like that exist." Gabby laughed and she propped her leg up a little, letting the dress fall to show them off again.

"And the best part is that I can wear them with almost any outfit," she grinned, kissing his hand. "After the twins of course, because I will Not be walking around in heels while pregnant after this. Those celebrities are crazy when they do it." Steve snorted and kissed her head.

After several minutes they both frowned and looked out the window as the car passed the reception hall. Steve leaned forward and knocked on the closed partition. "Excuse me, you passed the hall."

The car turned down a side street before stopping. The partition started to go down but the driver didn't move. Someone from the passenger seat turned to look at them, magenta eyes glowing, with a smirk on his face. "We're not going to the hall."

Steve put his arm in front of Gabby, leaning forward a little as the doors locked. He glared as Lanhr chuckled a little and the car started to drive again, headed out of the city.


	21. Chapter 21

**A****/N: Bum bum bum! Drama!**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki frowned a little as he stood by the door. It had been far too long for Steve and Gabby to still be at the church taking pictures, and he knew that they would never skip the reception. He looked over at the wards he had placed around the hall yesterday. He had placed some around the church as well, and even Tony couldn't fault him for being cautious.

"I got nothing from their phones," Tony said as he came over. "I've got JARVIS doing a scan of traffic cameras for the car. Pepper has taken over and everyone's going to start eating soon, just saying that they were held over at the church.

"I have a bad feeling," Loki admitted. "I want to go out and look for them."

"Take Balder with you, then." Tony didn't argue with his thought process. "Thor will stay here, we can keep an eye out just in case. The man's getting nervous about his daughter, and he doesn't know about what we saw." He handed Loki an ear piece. "I'll let you know if JARVIS gets anything." Loki nodded and kissed him before heading off to get Balder. Tony put his hands in his pocket out of nervous habit and let out a little sigh.

Loki found his brother and motioned for him to follow. They walked out of the hall and Balder frowned a little. "Two days ago, Tony and I got,... a message. We think that a Fae has come here." Loki cleared his throat a little. "Possibly one of Lanhr's changelings."

Balder growled a little but Loki held up a hand, and nodded. "I know, I should have said something right away, but I thought it would be fine. I warded the church and the hall from any magical being, other than us, and none of them were set off."

There was a moment of silence before Balder spoke. "The car wasn't warded." Loki shook his head. "Then this was planned."

"I'm afraid so. I'm going to look for them now," Loki told him. "Tony and Thor will stay here, and he's already scanning for the car." Balder nodded and he slipped off his jacket. "I know of a spell that can help us. It will pick up their trail giving us somewhere to start."

"Are we sure that they're still on Midgard?" Balder asked as he followed Loki out of the building.

"I am, even if Fae can travel without being seen they can't if they're taking others," Loki told him. "Specially if it's against the others will. I would have sensed a travel spell like that, and they know it." Balder frowned a little, but didn't think much on it. 

* * *

JARVIS had helped them track the car faster than Loki's spell, but the car was empty, the driver left unconscious in it. "Where would a Fae take them, without being seen?" Balder wondered, looking around. Loki took a breath and closed his eyes. As he exhaled slowly Balder looked over and blinked. A faint green trail appeared on the ground.

"They take them through the tear," Loki said as he opened his eyes. "Take my hand, we'll step through and find them."

"Wait, what's the tear?" Balder asked as he walked back over to Loki.

"A space between the fabric of reality of the realms. It's how the Fae travel unseen," Loki told him as he worked up a spell on his hand. "They slip out of sight, into the tear, where no one can see or interact with them, but they can see or interact with anyone on this side. Positions must be precise when leaving the tear." He grabbed Balder's hand and dragged two fingers down in a vertical line in front of them. The line glowed with green energy and Balder felt a faint wind before Loki pulled him through.

On the other side the area around them was the same, but the car was no where to be seen. The colors seemed to be a little dull and Loki let go of Balder's hand. The green trail was still on the ground and Loki started following it.

"How do you know so much about the Fae, Loki?" Balder asked as they moved. He usually didn't ask Loki about his personal life, knowing that they man liked his privacy, and he took the risk of being outright denied.

"I have encountered them before, on several occasions," Loki said, not looking away from the trail. "We aren't far," he lowered his voice as they were headed for the trees. "When we find them, take Gabby and Steve and head back to where we entered. I'll take care of the Fae and-" Loki stopped talking and held back a growl. "I'll take care of Lanhr. For good this time."

"I thought you had-" Loki shook his head a little and Balder nodded. Loki moved his hands and the snow turned silent under their feet.

Loki didn't like that it was silent, that he couldn't hear anything, no movement or talking. He sensed Lanhr, sensed his magic, knew he was physically close. He had to be waiting for them. They walked a little further and Loki sucked in a breath and Balder gasped as something passed through them.

Loki turned back to look at Balder who was frowning. "I can't call upon my powers," Balder said looking back up at Loki. Loki cursed and turned when he heard the sound he had wanted to hear just moments ago.

"I've been working on a few things since we last met, Silvertongue." Lanhr walked towards them through the trees. "And the first thing was to disable your Asgardian magic. I needed a level playing field since I've still yet to recover all of my powers. I had planned on using those two Midgardians," he spit on the ground as he spoke, "but the bitch is pregnant and there's something wrong with the other one."

"If you have harmed them or the children-" Balder started to growl out, stepping forward before Loki stopped him.

"Don't worry," Lanhr rolled his eyes. "She's too early for me to have done what I wanted. Her own energy is currently feeding the other two life forms inside of her, it's too weak for me to take. The Midgardians have ruined the man, changed him somehow." Loki never thought that he'd be happy about Steve having gotten the serum. "So instead I simply blocked your powers."

"That's not actually going to help you," Loki snorted a little. Lanhr growled, his fist starting to glow before he launched at Loki. Loki narrowed his eyes then caught his fist with his glowing hand. There was a crack and the an illusion of trees disappeared. Steve and Gabby were surrounded in a ring of elven runes and Lanhr's eyes widened.

"This shouldn't be possible," he growled and took a step back. "What did you do!"

"I didn't do anything." Loki shook his hands out, calling onto more power. "You underestimated me."

"That spell should have taken out your powers, no matter what breed you are!" Loki could tell that the Fae was furious now, and he smirked a little.

"Balder, I'm going to break the spell, and you will get Gabby and Steve," Loki said as he kept in front of Lanhr.

"I'm not letting any of you go, not this time," the elf growled. he launched at Loki again and Loki caught his arm and threw him to the ground. Lanhr grabbed his hand and flipped Loki down onto his back before rolling up. Loki snaked out and grabbed his belt pulling Lahnr back. He grasped onto an amulet in his pocket and pulled it out, slamming it to the ground, smashing it with his powers.

A shockwave pushed through them and Balder called up a wind to deface the runes on the ground. Steve had taken Gabby's hands and followed the older god quickly as Loki and Lanhr fought. "Dad, if he can fight against our powers, isn't there a way to disable the powers of a Fae?" She couldn't leave Loki to fight without help.

"No!" Loki shouted turning to face them. Lanhr threw a spell at him and he disappeared, a clone shimmering away. "Just get out of here!"

Lanhr threw a spell to the ground revealing the actual Loki and he slammed him against a tree. Loki reached out and grabbed his neck, digging his nails into the Fae's neck. His other arm reached up and grabbed his shoulder and pulled. Lanhr screamed when there was an audible pop then the breaking of bone.

"You were weak before I broke your spells," Loki hissed at him. Lanhr narrowed his eyes then started to laugh.

"Why didn't I see it before! That's how you were able to break my hold on your pet!" Lanhr laughed louder and Loki growled, digging his nails deeper into his skin. "It all makes sense, and oh I hope to be there when they find out." The both stopped when they felt the prickle of a spell.

Loki's eyes widened and he looked over at Balder who was working a spell. "Balder! No!" He fought to get free from Lanhr's grip. "Don't release that spell!"

"It's aimed at Lanhr!" Gabby called out. Balder was too engrossed in the spell to hear Loki shouting.

"No, it's aimed at Fae!" Loki growled and kicked the elf away from him. "Don't do it! I'm part Fae!" His eyes widened and he gasped when the spell released. Both him and Lanhr fell to the ground unconscious.


	22. Chapter 22

**A****/N: **  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony ran his hand through Loki's hair as he kept his head in his lap. They were in a private room at the hall as Pepper had talked Gabby and Steve into making an appearance so that the press didn't make a story out of something they didn't need to know about. Balder was in the in between man right now, and had promised to keep them update on Loki. Tony sighed thinking about how the two would remember their reception.

Lanhr had been tied up with enchanted ropes and thrown into a closet that was warded. Thankfully he was still unconscious too. Tony had roughly been filled in and was just waiting for Loki to wake up to find out all the facts.

"If you're trying to wake me up, perhaps you shouldn't use such a soothing motion," Loki said quietly and Tony blinked.

"You know I do that when I'm worried or thinking." Tony rubbed his temples a little and Loki opened his eyes. He helped Loki sit up on the couch they were on. "Do you want me to ask?" Loki shook his head no and Tony waited.

"I told you before that I had dealt with the Fae, then I knew what you had been through." Loki glanced at Tony. "No one knew until now, but I was on Alfheim and got lost. I was younger, still stupid, and had told no one where I was going. I was found by a powerful Fae and he wanted to make me his pet. At the time is wasn't unusual for Thor or Balder to be gone for months at a time on adventures, Father said it was just boys being boys, and that he would know if something had happened. I was gone for four months." Tony reached his hand over and rested it on his knee. "He had never come across someone with powers as strong as my own and wanted to see what would happen, I'm sure he hoped to harness the power."

Loki leaned back and rubbed by his eyes a little. "I didn't think about it at the time, but he let me leave, letting me think that I had been able to escape. For years I avoided Alfheim, too afraid to go back, tried to ignore the way that my magic felt. Told myself that the whispering I heard in the back of my mind was just nightmares, something I could ignore. It wasn't until we started to learn about the different types of Fae that I realized what had happened. I had a Master, and he would always know where I was." Loki glanced over at the door, saw that Balder had been standing there listening, but didn't say anything. "I went back to Alfheim, I was furious. I found him, and I killed him, but the power didn't go away. It had been too long, the influence of the fae had hooked itself to my magic, to my very being, changing me forever. I taught myself to hide it from those that could sense magic."

"Why didn't you tell us when you came back the first time?" Balder stepped into the room more and Tony glanced up at him. "Father or Mother could have helped."

"I was scared Balder, I was young, and I had just been tortured by a Fae," he looked at Balder but didn't raise his voice. "I wouldn't have wanted to go back and admit that I had been defeated when you and Thor came back with tales of victory." He shook his head a little. "The signs were all there you know, and they became even more obvious after finding out I was Jotun."

"How do you mean?" Balder frowned.

"How many others do you know that can shapeshift without a item to call upon the power, or a spell at their hands? I can do so with merely a thought. And I was suddenly able to do so when i should have known all of my powers." Loki held up his hand, moving his fingers slowly, letting green power jump from fingertip to fingertip. "My power used to be gold, not green. And how many Jotun are shapeshifters? I believe that I was the only one who paid attention in our classes, so I can tell you that the answer is none." He sighed and leaned back and Tony pulled him against his shoulder. Loki tried to move away but Tony wouldn't let go.

"I am part Fae, that is why I was able to use my magic, that is why I was able to tell who Lanhr was all those months ago, and how I was able to remove his magic and influence. It's how I knew that doing a soul bond was the only way to be sure that he would never be able to do it again." Loki looked at Tony and frowned. "I have lied to you about it, and I could have put you and our children in danger."

Tony scrunched his brows together a little, then made a little 'o' with his lips. "The kids are part fae." Loki nodded.

"Loki," Balder started quietly. "The soul bond you did with Tony,... Is-"

"No," Loki said quickly, tone getting harsh. "No, I would never do that. The part of my soul in him is that of which I was born with. He is not fae." Loki closed his eyes a little and Tony started to rub his neck. "It took me years to separate the Fae inside of me. I knew I could never get rid of it, not ever, but I would not let it control me wholly. I have no master, I belong to no one. That is a small blessing that I can give to the kids, that because they were born that way they will never have to go through that."

"I'm sorry about the spell." Loki shook his head a little at Balder's apology.

"No, I didn't tell you so you couldn't have known. And if you hadn't we might not have been able to catch Lanhr."

Balder nodded and put a hand on Loki's shoulder briefly. "Then I shall go and tell Gabby and Steve that you are awake and doing fine They've been quite worried." Loki nodded and Balder left.

Tony watched Loki for a few moments. "I know I'm no expert on magic yet, but I have come to a couple of theories about it." Loki raised an eyebrow slightly. "At some points it works like chemicals, on an exposure basis. I should know, I expose my heart to different elements because of the reactor. It's not Entirely true about me not being fae, is it?" Loki didn't say anything, but also didn't look at Tony. "I'm not angry about it, you can be sure that I'm going to be thinking about all the information that you just gave me, but you don't have to worry, Loki." He took both of his hands and squeezed them lightly. "this isn't just something that you mention on a first date, is it? Oh by the way I was tortured and made into something else when I was younger, so hey how'd you almost die?" Loki snorted a little.

"This is one of those rare moments when I think that you are too good for me," Loki kissed the back of his hand. "To hear that I'm one of the things that did the same to you not too long ago, it's behind me how you digest it all."

"Well, it doesn't suddenly change who you are as a person," Tony shrugged a little. "It doesn't change the man I've known for the past 20 years. And maybe I don't mind so much belonging to you in a sense. Just one more reason that I'll never get away." He smiled at Loki a little, bumping his shoulder gently.

"You're a foolish man filled with sentiment." Loki rolled his eyes. They heard some banging coming from the closet and they both looked over. "Oh good, you didn't deal with him yet." He cracked his fingers a little and Tony took his arm.

"No, not at the reception," Tony shook his head. "We're taking him back to the Tower, and you can deal with him after the kids have gone to sleep." Loki look at him and Tony saw that glint in his eye, the one that had promised devastation to the Earth when he had gone mad. Tony felt no shame in admitting that it might have turned him on a little because it wasn't directed at him.

"Perhaps a room that blood will be able to easily cleaned up from?" Tony just kissed his cheek.


	23. Chapter 23

**A****/N: A little due revenge.**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"This is about 40 feet underground, no mirrors for him to try and disappear through, just blank walls, and the door will only open to your hand print so he can't jimmy the door open or anything." The elevator door opened and Tony walked out first with Loki behind him. "There are cameras in there but I don't have them on. Want me to come back down after I put the kids to sleep?"

Loki shook his head and kissed Tony's cheek. "But you're probably going to come down anyway aren't you?"

"Does my workshop about 30 feet away count?" Tony smiled. They stopped at a door and a panel opened. "I'll see you later." He kissed Loki one more time before heading back down the hall for the elevator. He watched the him go before pressing his hand to the panel and walking through the door. He closed it with a click and look inside the plain room. Lahnr was standing there, waiting for him, hands still tied.

"I knew it wouldn't be long until you came down." He held up his hands and Loki snapped, the ropes falling off and disappearing. "So, who was it? Who is the one who commands the great Silvertongue?"

Loki growled but didn't move closer to him. "No one commands me. You are still a young whelp, only a few hundred years under your belt at best."

"That may be true, but I know more about the Fae than any other around me." Lanhr started to walk and Loki followed, the two starting to circle each other. "You were not born a fae, and if your master had been killed you would have died with them, no doubt they were a novice trying to claim the prize of a prince."

"Do you know your own history, I wonder? Do you know of Gauton?" Loki stopped to look at Lanhr, the two of them a little closer.

"Of course I do, he was one of the firsts, the pure ones," Lanhr frowned watching Loki. "What gives you the right to utter his name?"

"I killed him, because I didn't want him as my Master any longer." The elf growled and made the first move, coming at Loki.

"You lie!" Loki moved to the side of the fist and brought up his elbow, crushing his nose. "There's no way a bastard like you could have killed him!" Lanhr grabbed his arm and brought it down, swinging it behind Loki's beck and pushing him towards the wall. Loki rolled, twisting his arm out of Lanhr's grip.

"Technically, I was never a bastard. All of my parents were bound in union when they had me." He smirked as Lanhr growled and used the wall to push back towards Loki. "Better watch out," Loki taunted as he practically danced out of his reach. "Your anger is getting the better of you."

"I'm going to kill you and take pleasure in it." His hands flared with magenta energy and Loki raised an eyebrow. Seemed that his anger had helped him tap into a little more power than before. "For years my mother sought out the one who killed her brother. You're the reason my mother is dead."

Loki ducked a spell but coughed when a fist caught him in the chest on his way up. "Your mother is dead because she was a disgrace to the Fae." He grabbed Lanhr's glowing fist with his own glowing hand. They were both blown back when a spell exploded in their hands and Loki's back hit the wall. He blinked, shaking off the hit and pushed himself up. His head snapped to the side when a fist connected and he was thrown to the ground.

"We're underground, aren't we?" Lanhr kicked Loki's side hard, rolling him a couple of times. "I can feel it, can feel the earth around us." Lanhr moved and dropped his knees on Loki's legs and hips, and leaning over to drop his arm and most of his weight, on Loki's chest to keep him down. "I wonder what would happen if I opened a way to the Tear right now. I mean, you have to know where you're going to navigate the tear, and only a few people know the truth, right?" His other hand reached over and drew a small line in the air. "The best way to try and get away is to get underground right? Unless you spell the area before hand. And something tells me that you don't use the Tear very often."

Loki glared at Lanhr. "You do that you'll kill us both. Buried between realities under 40 feet of dirt and cement. Something tells me that's not how you want to go out."

"Who said anything about trying to kill you, yet." He grabbed Loki's forearm and thrust it into the small opening. Loki screamed and arched his back as his hand was crushed under the weight of thousands of pounds of dirt. Lanhr removed his hand and left a glowing ring around Loki's wrist, attached to the Tear opening. "Now, let's see what kind of fae power you've been hiding from everyone."

Loki tried to throw Lanhr off, but his movement was restricted with the elf sitting on top of him and his arm held out. Lanhr put a hand flat on Loki's chest and it started to glow. He fidgeted at the sensation of his magic stirring up inside of him.

Tony was sitting in his chair in his workshop, trying to decide how upset Loki would be if he went down and waited by the door. He said he'd wait for him here in the workshop. He'd been known to lie about things like that. Tony suddenly frowned and felt a stirring in his chest, just above the reactor. He grunted when his chest started to burn. It reminded him of the feeling of Lanhr's magic. Stumbling up from the chair he made his way to the room. Loki needed help.

"Mmm, yes, I can feel your children," Lanhr smirked. "Nothing I can do to influence them, they were born like that. But this one," he twisted his hand and Loki jerked, letting out a pained gasp. "This one is connected to someone. An unintentional link, right?" He looked at Loki, a mad glint in his eyes. "So if I broke it? Would it kill him? What would it do to you?" He twisted his hand again and Loki moved, grunting. "Would your kids feel it too?"

Loki opened his eyes when he heard the soft click of the door. "There he is now." He grinned and moved to twist his hand again but a whining noise caught his attention.

"Get off of him, asshole," Tony growled, pointing a hand repulsor at him. Loki could see a hand on his chest, feeling the pain through their connection. Tony watched Lanhr closely. "You have exactly two seconds to get off."

"And you think that-" He flew off and over Loki, slamming into the wall as Tony shot at his back.

"I take my countdowns seriously." Tony glared. Loki took a breath and reached his other arm over to his trapped hand. Tony knelt down to help him sit up and it jostled his wrist. He sucked in a breath and put his hand on Tony's chest.

"Get back, lock the door." Loki's fingers glowed and he slowly pulled his hand out, closing the tear, keeping it from Tony's view. Lanhr started to laugh as he rolled to his knees on the ground. "Nevermind, this won't take long."

Loki got up and slowly walked over to Fae. He grabbed his shirt and hauled him up to his feet. "They'll know now," Lanhr smiled at him. "The Fae, they'll know it was you that killed Gaunton. How long will you be able to hide this time?"

"I'm sick of hearing you talk." Loki's hand crackled with power and he shoved it into his chest quickly. Lanhr's eyes widened and Loki watched the magenta glow die from his eyes. Loki let the body drop and Tony hurried over, getting under his arm before Loki's knees gave out completely.

"JARVIS, deep cleanse," Tony said as they headed for the door. "Burn it, wash it, everything." He pushed the door closed and the lock clicked into place. They heard a quiet roar from behind the door. Tony and Loki slid to the ground, both taking a breath. "Fuck, Loki," Tony looked over and saw his hand. "What the hell happened?"

"An unfortunate casualty," Loki mumbled. "I can heal it, but not for a while."

"Well we can't just let it sit, you'll end up losing the hand." Tony moved, gently lifting the his arm but not touching his hand. "It's been crushed."

"I can always make a new hand, you know." Tony blinked and looked at him.

"Okay, I'm not sure if that's creepy or not. Does it just grow, kind of like Doctor Who?" Loki rolled his eyes at him. "Oh whatever, come on," He put Loki's good arm around his shoulders and pulled him up. "Just let me try and treat it, I'm not going to let you lose the hand." Loki let him drag him back down the hall, leaning on him a little. Loki didn't care about his hand, not when he had Tony right there with him.


	24. Chapter 24

**A****/N: The second to last chapter**  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Gabby opened the front door as Steve went to grab their bags from the bedroom. "Uncle Loki?" She blinked but smiled and hugged him. "Come on in."

"Getting ready to leave for your honeymoon?" He kept a hand on her side as he walked in, his other hand in his jacket pocket.

"Yeah, but I got a few minutes. How are you feeling?" She motioned towards his hand. "Uncle Tony called yesterday to tell me about it."

"It'll heal," he took his hand out of his pocket, wrapped in gauze. "I didn't want his inexperienced hands touching it so I went up to the Healers in Asgard." He smiled a little and shrugged. "He never fails to forget that I've been through worse."

"That's Uncle Tony, a bit of a worrier." She chuckled a little.

"Well, I don't want to keep you too long, I just wanted to stop by and check on you personally." This time he put both of his hands in his pockets. "I also wanted to apologize."

Gabby frowned a little. "For what?" She looked at him for a second then blinked. "You're not going to apologize for what happened at the wedding are you? What happened, happened, and everyone go out relatively unscathed." She walked over and put her arms on his shoulders. "We salvaged the reception, and felt much better when Dad came and told us that you were awake and talking, possibly threatening Tony's life for caring."

"She even managed to smash some cake in my face," Steve said as he walked out, dropping a couple bags on the couch. "The blue frosting took a bit of scrubbing to get out. How's the hand?" He walked over to them.

"It'll heal since I didn't let Tony touch it."

"Probably for the best," Steve nodded. "We actually wanted to thank you." Loki raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "For working so hard to try and save the wedding."

"I failed to tell you that there was a possible threat, though." Loki looked between the two of them.

"And you tried to keep the atmosphere happy and clear," Gabby smiled at him. "You tried to give us an honest wedding without any of the anxiety of an attack. It worked, even after it happened." She smirked and poked his side a little. "You actually care about people more than you let on. You have Sentiment."

Loki scowled at her and took a step back. "I think I liked it better when you didn't talk."

Gabby snorted. "I was seven years old."

"And silent, incapable of adult thinking." Loki pulled his good hand out of his pocket. "Before I go, I do have something for you." He opened his hand to show a black braided leather bracelet, with an engraved charm woven in. "It's an old charm to help keep good health for a pregnant mother and her child, or children in this case. I was unable to give it to you at the reception."

Gabby smiled and took it slipping it over her hand onto her wrist, then kissed Loki's cheek. "Thank you, it means a lot."

"I should go before I have more emotions." He pat Gabby's cheek a little and nodded to Steve. "Just think, the two of you can really enjoy the location of your honeymoon since she's already pregnant." He smirked as he left the room. "Take care of the babes." 

* * *

"Daddy's home!" Loki stepped off the elevator and blinked when he heard Emma, but didn't see her until it was too late. He stumbled forward when something landed on his back, arms wrapping around his neck.

"JARVIS?" He heard Tony ask and looked up.

"I have recorded it, sir," the AI answered and Loki raised an eyebrow. Tony stood there with a grin, Eindride strapped to his chest dressed to go outside, giggling, and Fenrir's leash in Tony's hand.

"Oh, good." Tony grinned and kissed Loki. "We've been waiting for you to come home."

"Yeah!" Emma grinned, hanging around his neck. "Dad's taking us all out. We're gonna go shopping, and then he said we'd go out to eat! But we couldn't leave until you came home."

"And Dad is giving you the easy job of holding Emma's hand in crowded places." Tony smiled at him. "Or holding her around your neck, because that seems to be working out quite well, actually."

Loki snorted and rolled his eyes. "Come here muchkin." Emma squealed when Loki reached up with his good hand and grabbed the belt loop of her pants, lifting her up and holding her in front of him. She giggled and grinned, looking at Loki with her feet up in the air. "I think I'll carry her like this." He smiled and turned back for the elevator as Emma wiggled around.


	25. Chapter 25

**A****/N: This is it! It's the end! And it's full of fluff and emotions! Thank you all for reading this! You're all wonderful! And another special shoutout to my dear GreenLoki! **  


**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Steve? Rogers, are you there?" Steve reached down and picked up the ear piece as he picked up his shield. A team from SHIELD had gotten there and was cleaning up the latest fight with some Doom bots.

"Yeah, I'm here." He slipped a glove off and wiped at some blood from a cut above his eye. "The team just got here, Coulson."

"There's another emergency that needs your attention." Steve frowned a little. "Gabby's in labor. There's a quinjet about half a minute from your location, it'll get you back to New York as soon as possible." Steve was already looking for the jet ready to go.

"How long has she been in labor?" He didn't want to miss the birth of his children, and being on the other side of the world might make him do just that.

"She's been at the hospital for about an hour. I'll keep you updated.''

The quinjet was was only able to land on Avengers Tower at its closest to the hospital. Steve had left his shield, gloves, and helmet on the jet and continued on foot. Coulson had told him what floor and room she was in and that Pepper was in the room with her.

He took the stairs three at a time at the hospital and practically slid down the hall, passing the waiting room, filled with the rest of their family and friends, and a dog. He pushed the door open to her room and a nurse was there waiting with a face mask and gloves for him. She looked at his face and he just gave her a smile as he walked over quickly and took Gabby's hand.

"Steve! Thank god," she let out a breath and smiled at him. Pepper wiped her forehead as she went through another contraction.

"Just in time," the doctor told Steve. "She's ready to start pushing."

* * *

Steve found he couldn't stop staring, and he didn't want to move. The sleeping child in his arms was perfection, right next to her brother. His thumb rubbed over the name tag on her wrist, Anastasia Sarah Rogers, the older of the twins by 126 seconds. He glanced over at the small bed where his son slept, Christopher Lee Rogers.

He thought back to when he was still just a scrawny boy in Brooklyn, before the war, before the serum. He thought he'd one day find a girl to marry, start a family, but he never could have imagined the feeling he'd have. All he wanted to do was protect them, keep them safe, give them the world.

Steve blinked and looked up when he heard the click of a camera. Tony was standing in front of him, phone held out to get a picture. "This might be one of the more disgustingly cute things I've seen in my life," Tony said quietly, seeing everyone else asleep. He pulled up a chair and sat across the new father. "Welcome to parenthood, Rogers," He smiled, leaning back in his chair. "How's it feel so far?"

"They're only 14 hours old, and yet I can't imagine being without them." Steve looked back down at the sleeping girl in his arms. "It feels amazing."

"It doesn't really go away, not even when they're making you want to tear your hair out, and then tear theirs out," Tony chuckled a little. "I mean, I can't exactly tell you first hand what the teen years are like yet, I only got to see Gabby and those little mongrels she calls brothers, but they weren't living with me." Steve snorted a little. "The terrible twos will drive you nuts, specially with two at the same time, and you'll come to think that Doctor Doom isn't nearly as scary as what lives in your sons' diapers."

Tony leaned forward a little in the chair and Steve looked at him. "You'll find that you'd do anything for them, cause they're your kids, and at the end of the day you'll always love them, no matter what horrible thing they did that day. And when your little girl, cause she'll always be your little girl, is gonna get married, it's gonna be the hardest day of your life, and the second happiest day."

"The second?" Steve asked.

"Right next to the day they were born," Tony smiled. "Gods help whatever boy wants to date your little girl, Rogers. He'll never expect that Captain freaking America is her dad."

"I expect that he'll think the same thing that Emma's future suitor's will think when they see Iron Man and Loki." Tony snorted, grinning at the thought though. "Thanks, Tony." Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "For the talk, it actually helped."

"Think nothing of it," Tony leaned back in the chair. "I can't tease you about this moment, because I was the nervous father at one time. Two weeks from now though, that's a different story." Steve smiled and shook his head a little.

* * *

"Are you going to be able to make it?" Loki watched Tony mess with his jacket.

"Hush, I'll be fine," Tony waved Loki off. "I'll have the kids right there, and Fenrir. I'd be more concerned about yourself mister." Loki raised an eyebrow. "You haven't even seen her dress yet, so you don't even know what you're in for." Tony adjusted his red tie. "Okay, I'm ready."

Loki chuckled a little and put his hand on Tony's back and they walked down the hall. Kaia and Nathan had decided on getting married in France, at a castle. They weren't going to have a bridal party, they just wanted a simple ceremony. Tony didn't know how they got French castle from simple, but he wasn't complaining. It was family and close friends, and a couple of hand picked reporters and photographers from a couple of magazines. No one could say that Tony Stark wasn't generous to the press.

Tony knocked on the door of the room Kaia was getting ready in. He had timed it out with Pepper and knew that she would be all set and alone, just waiting for them. Tony bit his lip a little in anticipation, waiting for Loki's response.

The door opened and Tony took a breath as Kaia stepped out. Her hair was done but curled, with a red rose and green ribbon woven through her hair. The dress looked even better on her than Tony remembered and she had a simple silver choker on. She truly looked like she belonged in the castle, their little princess.

He sneaked a glance to the side and saw Loki too stunned for words. "My beautiful baby girl." Tony took her hands and kissed her forehead. "Look at you, all grown up. Well, you're probably wondering who's walking you down the aisle. Since I've already had the honor of walking down the aisle with you, Loki will on your arm today. Have fun, poohbear. I love you, so much." Kaia smiled, eyes getting teary, and she hugged him tightly.

Tony smiled and squeezed Loki's arm a little. "You've got about five minutes to pull yourself together." He smirked at the man and left to find Pepper and the kids.

Kaia looked at Loki, still grinning. "Hi, Dad." Loki took her hands and slowly pulled her to him, holding her and resting his head on top of hers lightly.

"I never imagined that one day I'd have kids, much less that I would be watching them get married," Loki said quietly, voice getting a little thick at the onset of tears. "And yet, here we are. You're more beautiful than I could have imagined." He leaned back a little, holding onto her hands. "I remember when you were just a little babe in my arms, and I was questioning myself about why I had given you a middle name that was just another version of Anthony." She let out a teary laugh, wiping at her eyes with a finger. "You will always be my first born, one of my precious children, and I will always be here for you, no matter where you are."

"I love you, Daddy," she hugged him tightly.

"I love you more, poohbear." He closed his eyes, lashes wet with tears, and just took his time with his little girl, before she became a married woman. "I'm going to have to have another child now. I'll just keep replacing you all as you get married." Kaia laughed and hugged him tighter.


End file.
